Danny Grant insists Shamrock Rovers are not giving up on making the knockout stages of the Conference League despite falling to a 2-1 loss against a very polished Shakhtar Donetsk side on Thursday night.
The Ukrainians oozed class at Tallaght Stadium, showing evidence of their European pedigree, but the Hoops certainly didn't roll over easily, scrapping right to the end after Conor Malley gave them a lifeline three minutes from time.
The League of Ireland champions' penultimate game in the league phase is away to Icelandic side Breidablik on Thursday 11 December, before they finish against Hamrun Spartans from Malta a week later.
Currently 35th of the 36 teams in the league standings, they must finish in the top 24 to earn a place in the knockout play-offs, which offer a spot in the last 16.
For Grant, there were positives to take after a demanding encounter.
"It's a tough one to analyse," he told RTÉ Sport. "They're obviously a serious side. I think the boys down my side, the left-back, left-winger, the left-sided ten, are serious, serious players.
"A lot of their players are so sharp. They're obviously a really high-level opposition that usually plays in Champions League competitions. I think we put out a decent account ourselves, but as I've said previously, it's a bit of a moral victory.
"We're disappointed we didn't get something out of the game. We were maybe hoping to nick a penalty late in the second half, and that could take us level. But it wasn't to be today, so it is what it is, I suppose.
"The (League of Ireland) has obviously grown, and the league's getting better, and all the teams are going in one direction. But no, you probably don't come up against that high-level opposition in terms of the Brazilians and stuff that they have, they're a serious outfit, and they'll obviously be expected to go far in the competition."
Last season, Shamrock Rovers got to the knockout play-offs and were beaten on penalties by Molde.
They've clearly learned a lot from that whole experience, not last the value of staying calm when things come to the boil.
There was certainly a sense of calm about Grant as he assessed what's now required of them.
"I think, when you look at teams like Sparta Prague, Athens, Shakhtar, who is the best of the three," he went on.
"It's hard to gauge who's the best. But in terms of the club stature, you'd probably say Shakhtar's the biggest club in terms of their history. So that's probably the toughest game out of the way.
"And as you say, we've six points left to play for against two decent teams. There's not going to be any walkovers, but two teams who are probably more similar level to us. So hopefully we can go away to Iceland, get three points, and see what happens in the final lane. We'll just see where it takes us.
"If we get seven points, who knows? Last year, I think there were teams on seven points who didn't qualify for the play-off but that's all we can do now at this stage, and hopefully it gets us into the play-off spots."
