Armenia put a major dent in Ireland's qualifying campaign, and now the eastern European side can potentially drive the final nail into the national team’s World Cup ambitions.
A remarkable situation for Heimir Hallgrimsson’s outfit to find themselves in, just three matches into the campaign with a solitary point acquired at the half-way stage of the six-game series.
In fact, it took an injury-time equaliser for Ireland to procure that point in their 2-2 draw with Hungary in the group opener in Dublin, as a poor start, losing two early goals, appeared to set the tone for the current campaign.
The fightback was admirable, yet just as quickly forgotten; just three days later, the capitulation occurred in Yerevan, Ireland well beaten by Armenia, the 2-1 scoreline a touch flattering in the end to the travelling team.
The thoughts of losing twice to the lowest ranked side in the group is hard to fathom, and yet, the last five to ten years of downward spiralling suggests that this is becoming the norm rather than the exception.
Armenia are coming into the game brimming with confidence, as they followed up their victory over the Irish with a spirited performance in Budapest, giving Hungary quite the shock as the home side had to hold on in the final stages before eventually making the game safe at 2-0 in injury time.
And new coach, Yegishe Melikyan, who only took charge of the national team in August, is adding fuel to the fire by declaring that Armenia are ready to go to war at Lansdowne Road.
Some might say, however, that you’re only as good as your last game, and it is from there that Ireland are attempting to build themselves back up, following a battling team performance in Lisbon on Saturday night.
A real collective effort against one of Europe’s elite, and while the result went the wrong way in the end, there is certainly scope for continuity as they line out at Lansdowne Road tonight.
"Knowing the fact that this team is only one with collective work, whether it's in attack or defence," said Hallgrimsson, speaking at the pre-match press conference. "So taking that from Portugal, how we beat Armenia is collective."
In the absence of a talisman, Hallgrimsson is looking to harness that collective energy from Lisbon and bring it into the dressing room and out onto the pitch tonight, and manager and captain were singing from the same hymn sheet at the media briefing with victory being the only option.
The must-win tag is certainly apt in terms of World Cup qualification hopes, however, there are other factors at play here as anything less than three points has the potential to bring the Hallgrimsson era to a premature end.
In normal circumstances, there would be little doubt about Ireland’s capability to beat Armenia at a packed Aviva Stadium, and all going to plan, Hallgrimsson’s side should still be strong enough to get their noses in front and see it through to a satisfactory conclusion.
But the doubts are real, the confidence, while growing, has the potential to evaporate if anything goes wrong, and there is real potential for the team to lose all cohesion once again if they begin to get desperate.
It is why Hallgrimsson is urging caution, while practising patience, as he understands that this team remains a touch brittle and are liable to break if they fall behind.
"Too much patience maybe is not good, we need to have urgency at times," he added, implying that his side also need to take the initiative, set the tone and be prepared to react should things go wrong.
"We need to have a plan B if we don't feel that we are creating enough."
Hallgrimsson is not one for giving too much away on the eve of the game, however, he did imply that the side would be moving back to a four-man defence, having set up with five in Portugal.
Josh Cullen is suspended, and while he has drafted Conor Coventry in as cover, you might expect that one number six role should be enough for a must-win home clash against Armenia, whether in form or not.
A full audit will have been compiled on all those who expended the entire tank in Lisbon, but the manager is sure to keep the energy in the starting XI with Chiedozie Ogbene and Festy Ebosele a real threat on either flank.
Creativity needs to be added to get the most out of the high-octane approach, and it should be a case of Jack Taylor or Finn Azaz stepping back into the midfield to link the attack.
Whether Hallgrimsson has the nerve to add two strikers to the mix remains to be seen, however, with nothing to lose, there is an expectation that he will load the side with attack-minded players.
The first goal will be key tonight, and should Ireland bring that energy and intensity from the Lisbon game, they have the ability to dominate proceedings with fast-paced, front-foot football.
When this side started to emerge at the early stages of the Stephen Kenny era, the future looked set to be built around teenage sensations Troy Parrott and Evan Ferguson.
Both have experienced the highs and lows of professional club football and have taken the road less travelled in their quest to show their quality at the highest level.
The stage is now set for real drama in Dublin this evening, whether tragic or comic remains to be seen, but should the emerging duo of Parrott and Ferguson find themselves under the spotlight, there could not be a more opportune moment to shine.
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 an extended Game On programme on RTÉ 2fm.
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