It's not over until it’s over, was the message that Troy Parrott brought out of the Ireland camp ahead of Saturday's World Cup qualifier against Portugal in Lisbon.
Many have already written off Ireland’s chances of making it to next year’s showpiece following the disastrous result in Yerevan last month as Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side were shocked, losing 2-1 to Armenia.
However, the Ireland striker has stressed that the belief remains within the squad that World Cup qualification can be achieved, and it all starts with a tricky away fixture against one of Europe’s top sides on Saturday night.
The team will then return to Dublin for what has already been labelled a must-win fixture on Tuesday evening in the rematch with the aforementioned Armenians.
"It's not going to be over until it's over," said Parrott, speaking to the media on Tuesday following training. "We have two more chances coming up now and all focus is on the game.
"Because it's a new camp," he added, when asked where the belief comes from ahead of the upcoming double-hearer.
"Look, we can all sit around and dwell on the past, or else we can try and do what we can with what we have and where we are right now.
"The simple answer is that we lost the game in Armenia, so we have to now focus on these two games and see what we can do in still trying to qualify."
Parrott said that Hallgrimsson addressed the Armenia defeat at the start of the current camp and there was an overwhelming acceptance that the performance was not good enough.
The striker, of course, missed out on the September window through injury, so he said that he did not get involved in the discussion nor the dissection of the performance as he had watched from afar.
And Parrott admitted that it was a really difficult time after picking up the injury considering he showed great form at the start of the season.
"It's really hard. This is probably the best that I've played in my career so far at the start of the season, just in terms of the goals and the performances," he said.
"To have it taken away, it was difficult to deal with, especially knowing that I couldn't come in here. I was so, so excited for the two games. To not be able to come, it was hard to take.
"Obviously, I wasn't in the game, so I don't really know how I felt, but as a fan watching on the telly, I have the same opinion as everyone else," added Parrott. "I think we could have played a lot better and ultimately got the win, but as I said, I wasn't in the game. I don't know how it felt in there, so yeah, it was disappointing.
"Everyone in the changing room, everyone in the coaching staff, we all know that it wasn't good enough. But it's happened now. It is what it is. We can't dwell on it. It's not going to change anything now.
"So as I said before, we can only move on to what's in front of us."
Parrott has recovered from the injury that kept him out of the home clash against Hungary and that ill-fated trip to the other side of the continent, and while the manager spoke last week about bringing the striker back primarily for the Armenia game, the Dubliner suggested that he will be ready to go in Portugal.
"I feel good," said Parrott, when asked on his fitness status. "I'm progressing really well.
"I think at this stage, I just have to take it day by day and see where I end up when the game comes around. Of course, I'd love to play. I'm going to do everything I can to try and be available for the game. I think at this stage that I’m at, we'll just have to wait and see.
"I know the guys here have been in contact with them (AZ Alkmaar). I'm not sure exactly what the conversations are, but as I said, I'm going to try everything I can to be available for the game."
Looking ahead to the game, Parrott is well aware of the difficult nature of going to Portugal to get a result, however, he believes that if the team can stick to the gameplan, they have every chance of taking something home to bring into the Armenia game.
"We all know it's going to be a difficult game," said Parrott. "We've played them in the past, it's always difficult with the quality that they have.
"Look, we're going to have a game-plan going into the game. We have to try and stick to that game-plan and do our best to get a result out there. That's the simple answer to it."
Parrott was also asked about the prospect of playing against Cristiano Ronaldo who is still performing at international level at the age of 40.
"It's madness. What can I say? I'm the same as everyone else. The goals that he scores, how long he's done it for, it's amazing.
"It's the only word I can use for it. One of the best to ever do it."
Watch Portugal v Republic of Ireland in World Cup qualifying on Saturday from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to live radio commentary on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
