Mick McCarthy wants “heroes” to step out of the shadows and into the light in tonight’s monster shootout with Denmark.
Ireland will bag automatic Euro 2020 qualification with a win at Aviva Stadium - otherwise it’s the treacherous playoffs in March.
The Danes only need a point to advance but McCarthy wants to ‘slap’ them down to size as he reckons they don’t respect his team.
“Self praise is no praise,” he said. “I've seen teams with everything in their favour and they get slapped and that's what I hope happens.
"I kind of like upsetting the odds.”
McCarthy is backing his players to unleash one more barnstorming push and said: “They have character.”
He continued: “Despite the fact we didn’t play well in Georgia, we came away with a draw and we’re still in it.
“We could have been out of it - we could have been beaten in Denmark, we could have been beaten here against Switzerland.
“If they hadn’t the guts and balls and determination to get two results, we might not be having this opportunity. That’s why I always believe in them.”
And McCarthy revealed that teenage Tottenham sensation Troy Parrott will be considered for a role off the bench.
The 17-year-old made his senior bow with a start in last week’s friendly win over New Zealand.
“If the circumstances are right and the stars are aligned, he might get a chance to come on,” said McCarthy.
"He might also be sat on his backside with me and not get anywhere near it, but who knows, that might change.
“It's an option and when you see his movement, it could be one of those things on a night made for heroes.
"Technically he’s very good and he's a good finisher. Sometimes in those closing 15 minutes, it's those players who have that gift to sniff something out.”
Ireland are now guaranteed a March playoff as fallback but McCarthy has no interest in thinking about it.
Nor will his team go gung-ho tonight, and McCarthy even claims he won’t be fretting if it’s level heading into the final quarter.
“We’ll try and play the same way we did in Denmar, but playing with gay abandon would be ridiculous,” he added.
“That last 20 minutes is the one-off in which something could change. And I think they’d be feeling more nervous than us.
“They could lose it in that last 20 minutes. They’d be thinking one slip, one mistake, one bad decision, one bit of brilliance from anybody could suddenly put you out of it.
“If it gets to that stage, we’ve nothing to lose. Going out on 0-0 draw wouldn’t please me, we might as well have a go.
“There's a big performance in us. I may as well go home if I don't believe that - and I'm not going home anytime soon.”
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