Heimir Hallgrimsson believes that Ireland need to produce a performance that is close to flawless in order to take anything from Saturday evening's World Cup qualifier against Portugal in Lisbon.
The Ireland manager is hoping that his side can kick-start their qualifying campaign following a disappointing opening to the group, picking up a solitary point in September.
Three points is the absolute minimum requirement from the double-header against Portugal, followed by Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday, and while a victory at Aviva Stadium would check that particular box, Hallgrimsson appears hopeful that his side can procure a point against the group leaders.
But that comes with a big onus being placed on the team to turn a brutal showing in Yerevan into a mistake-free, defence-intensive, passionate and energetic performance at the Jose Alvalade Stadium tomorrow night (7.45pm).
By the manager’s admission, the Armenia result knocked the confidence out of his team and it has been a rebuilding process throughout the week-long build up to the game.
And as a result, he appeared cautiously optimistic when he faced the media for the obligatory pre-match press conference at the Lisbon arena.
"No," said Hallgrimsson, when asked whether the Armenia match was more important than the game in Lisbon.
"We go for this match, like every match, to try to get something from it. We have a game plan that we think is going to work. We'll see tomorrow if that materialises. But obviously if you look at the table, we need at least minimum three points from this camp.
"And for obvious reasons, when you look at it, it's probably the Armenia game that everybody is saying, OK, we can have a good performance and a better performance than in Armenia and get three points there.
"So I understand your angle, but we are trying to focus on this one and try to get the maximum we can from this match."
Hallgrimsson was not, however, going to get drawn into a debate as to whether this Ireland team actually had the capability to emulate previous sides and secure a big result against a high-quality European side.
"You'll see tomorrow," he replied.
Whatever the result, Hallgrimsson believes that the high-profile game is the perfect chance to undo the damage done in Armenia, knowing that a positive performance will help rebuild confidence in the team and add momentum for Tuesday’s game back in Dublin.
And the manager believes that those players who featured in Yerevan are really determined to right that wrong and make amends for the result that severely damaged the side’s chances of reaching the World Cup.
"Definitely," said Hallgrimsson. "First of all, we know that we need to have almost a perfect game to get something from this match. And if we do, we have a chance to steal a point or to win the game. Obviously, we need to try to keep a clean sheet. That's always going to make it easier.
"But I think for the players to have a good performance, yes, they definitely believe more and give them more confidence. That was taken away from us, if I can say that, in Armenia.
"I think everyone that played this game in Armenia wants to correct what went wrong there, whether it was personal performance or collective performance.
"So everybody likes to have this opportunity that we have tomorrow to play against one of the best teams in the world and to correct what went wrong. That's it.
"Whether there will be personal changes, I think every true professional likes an opportunity like we have tomorrow."
Hallgrimsson was asked about the most difficult aspect of preparing to play against a team like Portugal, and the manager admitted that he expects his side to have to perform out of possession and be able to cope with relentless spells of Portuguese attacking play.
"Obviously, it's defending this team. We know from their past matches and against almost all their opponents, they will have possession, let's say, 60-70% tomorrow," said Hallgrimsson.
"There will not be unlikely statistics from past games, so we will be defending a lot of the time. That will be the most challenging thing.
"And the goalscoring threats from their players is not one player, it's a lot of them. So we cannot be focusing on one and then just another one will shine. That's going to be the toughest one.
"And then for our forwards to use the opportunities we get, probably there's not going to be many goalscoring chances we have, but we must maximise what we take from our chances."
Seamus Coleman and John Egan returned to the squad to add experience for such a crucial match, but the manager against emphasised the fact that they have returned for their footballing ability, first and foremost.
"We picked them, of course, because of their quality, not because of their personality," said Hallgrimsson.
"But that helps that they have great experience, good leaders, both of them. And that obviously raises the next player's level.
"And that's always, the more leaders you have, the better team you have."
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
