Stephen Kelly knows what it's like to win a play-off with the Republic of Ireland - and he's backing the Boys in Green to do the business this week when they head to Prague.
Kelly was in the team that swept past Estonia 5-1 on aggregate to reach Euro 2012 under Giovanni Trapattoni.
The task this Thursday is undoubtedly tougher: Heimir Halgrimsson's men must get past Czechia on their own patch, and then beat either North Macedonia or Denmark in Dublin on Tuesday if they're to earn a ticket to the summer's World Cup in Mexico, USA and Canada.
That is no easy feat, but Kelly is confident.
"I think we will (win) yeah," Kelly told RTÉ Radio 1's Inside Sport.
"The excitement is palpitating, honestly. These opportunities don't come around very often, they really don't, and when it does there's an air of excitement, there's a level of expectation that you want to put on yourself.
"When we came up against Estonia, I just knew we were going to win the game. I felt we were at a point where we weren't going to lose that match and going away there, we knew the emphasis was on beating them in their place to bring the home leg to Dublin, knowing that it was almost done, and we did that.
"It's different circumstances this week, a more difficult game potentially going away to Prague... but Ireland know what's in their hands. The level of excitement that's going through your brain to think that we're in a position where we can get ourselves one step closer to a World Cup."
With the hype in overdrive, there's a danger Ireland freeze when it matters most. The stakes are so high, but Kelly believes the team can feed off that nervous energy.
"We were in France for the Henry (handball) when that happened (in 2009). I was there for that and that was horrendous. But this time the camp is going to be amazing, the atmosphere is going to be unbelievable.
"For the players, it's just that focus they have to have and the belief that they're going to do it, and I think on the back of the win they had against Hungary, they absolutely have to go and feel they can get something.
"You know, sometimes you go into a sporting engagement and you're so wound up that you can flatline at the start because you let that energy come out. It's almost overwhelming.
"I'd love us to go and press. I'd love us to go and just be all over the park and be energetic. And I think that that is really key in the performance over there. I don't want us to be sitting back and sitting deep. We have to go out and impose our game.
"It's key that they don't let it go flat. The fans are going to be incredible over there away from home. It's going to be insane."
Kelly admits it's a massive challenge this week, but he is convinced a reinvigorated Irish dressing room has the belief and purpose to get the job done.
"I think everybody in that changing room now has the belief that they can go win," he added.
"There's no one in that squad that thinks that they can't go and win that game. It's not over confidence. It's not thinking that we just have to turn up. They've come through a lot this group of players, where they've been down in the doldrums.
"They've struggled to get results. They've been really poor, but I think there's been a level of confidence that's started gradually to build. There's a self-belief in that squad now that they think they can go and do it."
Watch Czechia v Republic of Ireland on Thursday from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app or listen to commentary on Inside Sport on RTÉ Radio 1.
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