Heimir Hallgrimsson is confident that Ireland's World Cup qualification campaign will finally kick-start with a victory over Armenia at Aviva Stadium on Tuesday night.
Three games into this short, sharp, six-game qualifying group, Ireland sit rock bottom with just one point, however, things could start to look up with a victory in Dublin.
A win, along with results elsewhere, could potentially see Ireland finish the night in second place, which would put them in the play-off position heading into the final international window in November.
That would certainly take momentum into those decisive games against Portugal in Dublin following by the final game of the campaign, away in Budapest in what could be a play-off decider.
But first, Ireland must get the win over Armenia, and based on the first meetings between the two sides, that is far from a foregone conclusion.
Ireland started well in Yerevan, however, once they went behind, the performance went to pieces and the 2-1 result could actually have been a bit higher.
"I've always been honest with you, I believe in this team. I think this team has everything to qualify for the World Cup," said Hallgrimsson, speaking at the pre-match press conference.
"We are not maybe the favourites in the group at the moment, but a win tomorrow would change that. And I believe that we are going to do that.
"If you have seen the last game from Armenia where they went to Hungary, we know that it's a good team. Hungary was lucky to go away with the win, even at 1-0.
"Armenia had lots of good opportunities to punish and it's just a good team. So never ever anyone here underestimate Armenia."
So with all those factors in mind, Hallgrimsson said that it is imperative to hit the ground running from the first whistle at Lansdowne Road.
"Start in the correct way, start solid, united like we did in Portugal," said Hallgrimsson.
"Thinking again to the game, when we played in Portugal, we knew once Portugal didn't score, they would open up, they would be frustrated. You saw that in their body language, they got more and more frustrated.
"Now we flip that psychology. We need to win the game, and we cannot lose our focus in the beginning because we know the fact that we need to win the game. So we need to be smart, have game management throughout the game.
"The goal can come on the 91st minute, like in Portugal, but just keep on going. Don't go individual, stay collective both in attack and in defence."
All the talk ahead of the Portugal game was talking about the team putting in a performance, but on this occasion, Hallgrimsson admitted that he did not care as long as the final outcome sees Ireland gain three points towards their qualification quest.
"The result is the only thing that matters tomorrow," said the manager. " However we do it, I would take a sh**ty game and win 1-0. Yeah, this is a result game, 100%."
The manager was asked about the frustration around Ireland’s form, which has tended to drop in the second game of the international window, and whether it has affected preparation and selection.
Hallgrimsson admitted that it was a concern. However, he said that it is up to the players on the pitch to right that particular wrong.
"So first of all it's the load control. I accept the question, I've said it myself, this has been a trend, playing worse in the second game.
"And we as coaches want to find whatever we can do to change it. So the load and recovery from game one to game two, that's one thing we've been focusing on.
"Another thing, rotation of players. So we managed to do substitutions last game, it was a tough game. So we managed to do substitutions maybe earlier than we would have, knowing this fact.
"But then again, just switching the players on. So mentally, if it's a mental thing, we switch the players on. Early, switch the focus to Armenia. That's the things we can do and then it's down to player selection on the day.
"It is someone that is fresh, better tomorrow than someone that played a game three days ago. That's what we can manage. But then it's just down to the players."
And as for Tuesday night’s opponents, Hallgrimsson does not believe that they were just happy with a moral victory in Yerevan, but will now see themselves as contenders to sneak ahead of Ireland and Hungary into that vital second-placed spot in the group at the end of the campaign.
"If you think of them, let's focus away from us, they have three points," said Hallgrimsson. "They can go six points with a win, so it's equally as important a match for them. This is their chance to go to the World Cup, a win here. So how they see this game is probably the same way as us. It's a must-win game for them. So a little different there.
"And I think we realise there's going to be a big pressure on us tomorrow. We just need to accept that. That reality is going to be a pressure on us to win the game.
"But I'm saying it doesn't need to happen in the first minute. We need to be smart against this team.
"If we are not smart, they can punish us like they did in Armenia."
Watch Republic of Ireland v Armenia in World Cup qualifying on Tuesday 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 2fm's Game On
