While all the discussion and deliberation has been about the game against Wales in Cardiff on Monday, none of the permutations and possibilities matter at all if we don't claim three points against Moldova on Friday night.
It's a must-win game against a side that we should be expecting to beat 10 times out of 10, and having won in Chisinau despite not playing particularly well, the squad will be extremely confident that they can go out get the job done in a stress-free manner, as un-Irish as that seems.
When it comes to the lineup we will see, Martin O'Neill is without two players that he really would have wanted to play. Robbie Brady has been the main (sole?) creative outlet and James McClean is our top goalscoring in qualifying, but we will need other players to step up this time out.
While it seems like the whole nation wants to see Sean Maguire in the team, it's not likely that O'Neill gives him - or Scott Hogan for that matter - a debut from the start and we're expecting him to go with what he knows and has tried before.
With that in mind, coupling O'Neill's likely preferences with the players we want to see included, here is the starting XI we want to see on Friday night.
The Formation:
A 4-1-2-1-2 set up allows us to play two up top and, crucially, Wesso in behind. If McGeady gets the nod (we'll touch on that later) it could also shift to a 4-2-2-2 or even a 4-3-1-2 with one of McGeady or Hoolahan dropping deeper and allowing the other to be an additional attacker.
The Players:
The back five picks itself, and David Meyler has earned this starting spot with his performances against Austria and Serbia (although O'Neill will likely go with Whelan), Hendrick and Long will be in, as we hope Wesley will too, so that leaves...
Aiden McGeady - We know this selection is going to make some people disregard the entire team, but McGeady will drive at the Moldovan defense and is capable of causing all sorts of problems. He is not everybody's cup of tea, but this is a game where McGeady could be very useful.
Daryl Murphy - The Nottingham Forest striker deserves his start for offering something off the bench against Serbia both home and away, and will be something to aim at with all the possession we are expecting to have in attacking areas which, crucially, will mean it's not Shane Long on his own competing in the air against two big centre-backs.
The Subs:
In an ideal world, we would have the game won by the hour mark and be able to give a debut to Seanie Maguire. We would be upset if it's less than 20 minutes, and Daryl Horgan is another we sincerely hope gets a meaningful run-out.
That leaves one final sub, likely a midfielder, and we would be happy to see either Conor Hourihane and Eunan O'Kane come on for a bit of energy in the middle.
So that is the team we want to see, if you disagree feel free to let us know who you want in or out.
