Stephen Kelly feels the Republic of Ireland's in-game management has improved as Heimir Hallgrimsson's side look to build on the comeback draw against Hungary when they face Armenia on Tuesday.
The Boys in Green's World Cup qualifying campaign already seemed all but over at the first hurdle on Saturday as they found themselves 2-0 down at half-time against the Hungarians.
However, a red card for Roland Sallai, a stirring second-half display, coupled with goals from Evan Ferguson and Adam Idah, saw Ireland salvage a draw.
The aim now will be to come away from the first of the three qualifying windows with a four-point haul before two tough games against Portugal and a trip to Budapest between now and mid-November.
Armenia come into Tuesday (live on RTÉ2, RTÉ Player and RTÉ Radio 1 Extra) off the back of a 5-0 hammering at the hands of the Portuguese. But three years ago, they beat Ireland 1-0 in the heat of Yerevan at the start of that year's Nations League campaign, which will be a reminder that a win will not come easy.
Former Ireland and Tottenham Hotspur defender Kelly, who was on co-commentary on that disappointing day for the Irish side, is hopeful that Hallgrimsson's side have more in the tank this time round should they come unstuck early on in temperatures that are expected to be in the high 20s come kick-off time.
"It's a potential banana skin absolutely but if you have any aspirations of qualifying for a major tournament, this is a game you have to go and win. Just win it," he said on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast.
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"It doesn't matter if it's horrible, it doesn't matter if it's back to basics, it doesn't matter how you go about it. You just need to go and get that win and that's all that counts at this stage.
"You've drawn against Hungary, you've pulled yourself back from the precipice of defeat, you're so close to losing that game but you put in a performance to get it back.
"Build on that, go there (to Yerevan), get a win, get in and out. Listen, the journey is a big one, it's far, it's going to be hot, the pitch is not going to be great.
"But you deal with those (things), they're on the same pitch as you, you have to be able to just get on with it and make sure you come away, be resilient, get someone to come up with a goal, maybe one or two would be nice, if it was a comfortable afternoon it would be lovely which we never seem to do.
"That would be very nice to witness and commentate on. But last time I was out there, they hit one from 25/30 yards and I was on comms. But I just stopped talking... 'what do I say now?'
"And then we just couldn't get ourselves back and I think that's the difference. We have moved on slightly from that, whereas one goal was just we fell off a cliff.
"Whereas you see against Hungary, we conceded two, (showed) resolve to get back in. In-game management has been better. We've been able to adjust things, make substitutions, there's been a lot more positivity.
"If it doesn't start well, I have faith that we can bring it back. But let's go back, get a comfortable and get ourselves back in a position where we can qualify."
In terms of changes, Kelly feels the nature of the game on Tuesday should allow Ryan Manning to start at left back instead of Matt Doherty, while he and Richie Towell, who was also on the podcast, would both like to see Chiedozie Ogbene starting on the right wing and carrying the tempo from the latter part of the Hungary game into the start of this one.
"They've conceded 21 goals in their last five games which is a ridiculous amount of goals so you can see it's a team that's really low on confidence and you need to come out and go all guns blazing early doors," Towell said of an Armenian side whose only win in their last nine fixtures came away against Latvia in the Nations League last November.
"It's going to be really interesting to see what sort of formation and what players Heimir goes with against Armenia because you see when Ogbene comes on (against Hungary), he does really well, Mikey Johnston, Kasey McAteer, you could have them on either wing as well.
"I think Ferguson up front, he was very isolated against Hungary," Towell added, pointing to the dilemma Finn Azaz had in having to drop in to help clog the midfield area, "Adam Idah comes on and scores a vital goal for us, so I would love to see Ferguson and Adam Idah up front together.
"It's a must-win game for us but it will be interesting to see what Heimir does."
One player very unlikely to feature in the starting line-up is the uncapped Bosun Lawal. Kelly, who is an avowed fan of the Stoke midfielder and defender, reserved high praise for his potential and explained why he feels the 22-year-old Dubliner has some stylistic comparisons to former Spurs team-mate and captain Ledley King.
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Watch The Republic of Ireland play Armenia in World Cup qualifying from 4:30pm on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on the RTÉ News App and on rte.ie/sport. Listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1 Extra from 4:55pm.
