The four-point lead they enjoy over Austria and Wales means if Ireland and Serbia win this Sunday the pair will effectively get to battle it out for top spot in Group D.
But Martin O'Neill says he is not quite sure that he is rooting for the home win in Belgrade that would potentially reduce this campaign to a two-horse race. Ireland, after all, might not win themselves.
“Let us try to concentrate on winning the game,” he insists. “If things went askew I don’t know what you are looking at and if things went well you might have a different mindset,” he says as he weighs up the slight conflict that exists between targeting top spot and being sure of a play-off.
“Genuinely, I’m not being evasive, I just don’t know at the moment.”
The prospect of both Serbia and Wales dropping two points would generally be popular with coaches in his position but then so too is the notion that when opponents come to town needing a win, you can sit back and look to pick them off. O’Neill believes Ireland will have to be more positive than that.
“We have to be on the front foot from the start and make something happen,” says the manager whose attacking options were further curtailed on Tuesday by the loss of David McGoldrick to a knee injury.
Having to win
“They probably never thought they would lose three points to us in the [away] game and now, suddenly, they are thinking about coming and having to win the game . . . I don’t think that [sitting back] is what we want to do. We don’t want to get into a mindset that because they have to win, we can hit them on the break. I think we just have to dismiss that, genuinely, dismiss it . . . ”
If the plan is to be more positive then that will affect his selection in midfield although he refuses to be drawn on who will play or where. The role of Jeff Hendrick looks to be key, with the Burnley midfielder virtually sure to start and having the potential to play in any one of three different roles.
If the one he is handed is anything other than of holding midfielder, though, then Wes Hoolahan’s chances of featuring from the outset begin to look a little limited.
“He can play a central role, which I think he prefers, and if you’ve got two holding players, playing in front of them doesn’t present a problem and he can also get back to defend,” says O’Neill.
“I think Jeff is adept and strong enough to play in that role [the team’s “number 10”] he started off in the other night but I think that he found himself in the game against Austria almost covering a sort of right-hand sided position and I thought that he did that very well for us, particularly defensively.”
With Robbie Brady and James McClean to accommodate in that three, Hendrick’s inclusion, whether it be on the right or in the centre, would appear to point to Hoolahan having to settle for a place on the bench.
His assertion that “strength,” is the quality the team needs most in midfield seems to support this reasoning although he quickly follows up with: “boys who can deal with the ball,” something that would clearly be a key line in Hoolahan’s CV.
Dominated
“I think that applies all over the pitch,” says the manager, “but in midfield you don’t want to be dominated in there. It’s important to have a bit of strength in there, physical strength, a bit of composure if you have it and someone who can move the ball and maybe take it 10, 15, 20 yards when they have a bit of space to do so.
“If you’re looking at someone like Jeff Hendrick for instance, I think Jeff can do it but those are the sort of things I’m looking to balance.”
Using Hendrick there would open the door for Harry Arter to start alongside Glenn Whelan, as he did in Vienna, although it was only after the Stoke City player went off that he really grew into the game.
O’Neill admits he was impressed with Arter’s performance on Sunday but insists that for all the acclaim, the Bournemouth midfielder is not yet the finished article.
“I thought he harried the players great,” he says. “He went and closed players down and he led by example against Uruguay. That I love, I think it’s really good. But sometimes I think he has to be careful. If you have gone to ground, you make sure you get that ball, particularly in the penalty area. I don’t want people giving away daft free-kicks and Harry, at club level, I think he has to admit that he has given away a couple of daft free-kicks at times.
“But to curb that enthusiasm and that part of his game, I think that’s a fine balancing act. I just want him to be careful once or twice.”
