Former Republic of Ireland international Stephen Ward says if Stephen Kenny's side can scrape an untidy win over Slovakia tomorrow night it would be more than acceptable.
The Boys in Green are in Bratislava hoping to win and seal a place in a EURO 2020 play-off final against either Northern Ireland or Bosnia-Herzegovina next month.
And Ward, who scored three goals in 50 international appearances, told OTB AM there'll be plenty of time for Kenny to leave his mark on the Irish style if they can just get over this hurdle.
"The size of this game... I think if we're being completely honest - if we go there and win in style everyone will be delighted but the most important thing is getting the result.
"He [Kenny] might have to tweak a few things on how we exactly play, for him it's massive to get us qualified. If we can do that there's plenty of time, there's a good few months where he can really impose his style of play.
"Anyone watching the game, anyone who follows Ireland will just want us to win that game and move on to next month.
"To be honest I think it'll be tight, they're a decent side but I think we've got the capabilities of going there and winning. I hope we win two- or three-nil and play them off the park but I'll be more than happy waking up Friday morning if we've won one-nil and Duffy's scored a header from a set-piece. I'll take that all day long!"
Ward says the way in which the Republic of Ireland play under Kenny is a risk versus reward endeavour.
"First and foremost, if you look at the way Stephen wants us to play, it's high-press, very possession based. The main positives of being high and being up the pitch, you're a lot more compact.
6 October 2020; David McGoldrick during a Republic of Ireland training session at the FAI National Training Centre in Abbotstown, Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile"You do have a much greater chance of winning the ball in the opposition half. As silly as it sounds, you're close to their goal [and] you only have to make a couple of passes to create a chance.
"On the other hand it's a risk because you are so high and one lapse in concentration and a ball over the top and you can be in real trouble.
"Stephen's a very experienced manager and he'll have watched Slovakia, he'll know their strengths. They're pretty possession-based as well, he'll check if they've got a lot of pace up front, pace in wide areas.
"He'll judge his pressing line off that, I can't see him being too gung-ho. He knows how big the game is and we will play out from the back, try to keep the ball and create through the thirds to create chances."
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