More of the same, will be what Heimir Hallgrimsson asks of his players when they take to the Lansdowne Road pitch next Thursday in a quest to keep their World Cup dream alive.
Ireland put in, arguably, their most impressive performance of the Icelander's reign in Lisbon, when they went toe-to-toe with one of Europe’s best teams, and were cruelly undone in injury time when Ruben Neves headed home the goal that would decide the hard-fought battle.
Nothing tangible to take from that outing, as Portugal secured all three points to maintain top spot in the group, however, Hallgrimsson’s side were well-organised, cohesive and collectively sound throughout the away fixture.
The performance in Lisbon certainly handed Ireland a much-needed confidence boost and they followed it up with a home victory over Armenia to remain in the conversation moving into this final international window.
Whether or not Ireland are still in the picture ahead of the trip to Budapest remains to be seen, however, Hallgrimsson’s side will have a better visual on things before kick-off in their penultimate match, as Armenia host Hungary a couple of hours before the Portugal clash starts at 7:45pm.
Whatever the result in Yerevan, Hallgrimsson appears to be set on playing a certain way against Portugal, which will, more than likely, mirror the performance away from home, working as a collective, and maintaining shape and structure out of possession.
The manager believes that a similar showing, with slight improvements in certain aspects of the play compared to the Lisbon match could be enough to secure a result at Aviva Stadium.
And yet, Hallgrimsson also feels that while a perfect performance is needed, it may still not be enough such is the quality of opposition on show.
Either way, results elsewhere and ever-changing permutations will dictate tactics throughout the encounter with calculated risk-taking the most likely approach as Ireland attempt to conjure up something to take to Budapest for the final game.
"That's why we will probably go to a similar approach like we did in Portugal, it worked there," said Hallgrimsson, speaking at Thursday’s squad announcement.
"Obviously, we have analysed that game. We need to improve in certain areas. If we talk only defensive, I think we did a really good defensive display there.
"But still, against these teams, it's one step closer, one step earlier. Can we do this and that? Maybe close in some spaces as well. But from possession-wise, I think it was 70-30. 70% possession in Portugal. From that 70%, probably we did really well 69% of that time.
"We don't have time to drill in new tactics, but just going from a good performance defensive-wise, I think it would be silly to change a lot of things."
Hallgrimsson was asked whether it might prove frustrating to the crowd to have to watch a defence-orientated performance in a home World Cup qualifier, however, he feels that the supporters are well aware of both the task at hand and the quality of the opposition.
And the manager still expects his side to have their fair share of attacking play, albeit at the right moments in the game.
"We need to have calculated risks, we cannot play an open game against Portugal.
"Their biggest strength is the transition. They're so quick and skilful using spaces in behind us, or against every team.
"As the game goes on, we’ll know what we need, and according to the game we'll be playing, we'll take calculated risks. Whether it will be in set-pieces, whether it will be in-game, in possession, personnel, etc.
"If you look at the game in Portugal, what we did there, we don't need to tweak much to get a point or even a three if we are clever. But we need to have a perfect game against Portugal. That's just a given.
"We need to have a perfect game against them. Even though if we would have a perfect game, we still can lose that game, because of their quality, both individual and collective."
The end of the group phase could end Ireland’s hopes of reaching the World Cup next summer, which would ultimately call into question Hallgrimsson’s future with the national team.
But the former Jamaica manager was keeping things positive and is still maintaining that he expects to be involved with Ireland next summer.
"My focus is that I'm going to stay here until June, at least. June, July," he said.
"That's my focus. I'm not letting anything else distract that, because then I'm not doing my job. I'm optimistic, but I'm also a realist.
"I'll do the best I can, and then the future will tell what will happen. But my focus is that I'm going to stay here until the end of June.
"No, that's my focus," he added, when asked if that involved not making it to the World Cup. "We're going to qualify."
Watch Republic of Ireland v Uzbekistan in the FIFA Under-17 World Cup on Saturday from 3.35pm on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on the RTÉ News App and on rte.ie/sport
