Ireland have the perfect opportunity to bounce back from Armenia disappointment

Eight steps forward one step back; Stephen Kenny has the chance to get his side right back on the road to redemption just four days after the shock defeat to Armenia.

Fifteen months on from the awful home loss to Luxembourg, in what many thought would be a fatal blow to the emerging Ireland manager, Kenny received a timely wake-up call in relation to the perils of international management, as his side's eight-game unbeaten record was chalked off thanks to a 35-yard thunderbolt from the blue in Yerevan.

Complacency, over-confidence, perhaps, with a touch of end-of-season fatigue thrown in, however, all is not lost – as it was following the Luxembourg defeat in relation to World Cup qualification – with this set-back coming at the very start of the Nations League campaign.

The manager had been talking about winning the group in order to take something tangible from the long wait for Euro 2024 qualification to commence, however, in truth, does it really going to matter to the regular Irish football fan?

A Nations League win or two from a six-game schedule would probably please most, considering Ireland had gone ten games without a victory ahead of the Armenian acquiescence.

Kenny’s confidence was, as it happens, justified considering the turnaround in the team’s fortunes over the past 12 months, proving itself both difficult to beat and play against, while also making amends with the goalscoring Gods – 23 in 12 months – when compared to the one-goal return from the manager’s first eight games in charge.

And it is no surprise that Kenny is looking to those recent performances to help prepare his side for tonight’s game, calling the Portugal match "a good template" for the visit of Ukraine.

The travelling Ukraine squad are playing