Irish should be sharper for Georgia clash, says Kenny

He reviewed Ireland's late win and said: "we went on to the pitch with the intention of playing good football and being creative and imaginative, but sometimes it doesn't work out that way and that certainly was the case on Saturday.

But on those occasions you have to go deep and show a lot of character and determination, and that's what we did.

"We almost willed ourselves to victory, so we move on to this game against Georgia and hopefully, we'll have the same outcome."

Cunningham never fails to talk in emotive terms when discussing Ireland and his role as captain and centre-back.

It is abundantly clear that the green international shirt carries a special significance for him.

He was asked whether Ireland's recent run of results had left them more keen to impress and he responded:

"As a general rule I don't think it should matter to you when you pull on your national colours regardless of the fixture, whether it is a competitive game where everything is at stake, or a friendly international, I think it should mean the same.

"It is a fantastic opportunity of representing your country, so I wouldn't buy into the idea that your attitude depends on the significance of any particular match.

"But certainly our position in the group at the moment, with the possibility of coming out as group winners, means, of course, there is motivation there."

Cunningham has consistently been one of Ireland's most dependable players in his 47 internationals since his debut in 1996.

He will be 32 on June 28 and the likeable Dubliner fills his role as team captain with grace and style.

One of his most admirable qualities is his honesty as illustrated by this statement:

"I think individually and collectively we can play better than we did on Saturday. But we've only got blood running through our veins, we're not like computers you can switch on and switch off.

"We always go on to the pitch with the intention of playing to the best of our ability, but at times that's not going to happen. In those circumstances you rely on the spirit and the character within the side.

"They're the times when that shines through and that was the case against Albania, and that was pleasing about our performance."

He suggested the fact that Ireland's players had not played a competitive match in four weeks from the end of the season had affected their performance, but added this rider:

"I don't think we should look for excuses. I think it's a fair argument, most of the European nations are playing competitive football at this stage of the season.

"Look at the Spanish and Italian leagues, for instance, and I think it can be a slight advantage to them, but I wouldn't like to use that as any kind of an excuse for a sub-standard performance.

"I think having played 90 minutes' competitive football will help us. There was a small degree of fatigue maybe in the second half of the game, but now we've had a couple of days' rest and hopefully, that little bit of match sharpness will be in place."

One of the press corps caused my eyebrows to lift when he posed this strange question "who do you prefer to play alongside at centre-back?"

The thought occurred that he surely did not expect any player to elevate any of his colleagues one above another and predictably, Cunningham was having none of it.

Perhaps the journalist was seeking Cunningham's endorsement of the ongoing excellence of Gary Breen in an Irish shirt but, whatever the reason, the team captain's response was:

"I'd play alongside anybody in an Irish jersey, to be honest. I've been very fortunate in that respect. I've played alongside some wonderful players and I'm very fortunate to be in this position.

"Not at all, I don't think anybody holds that attitude. Once you've got the green jersey on your back, you've got a number of quality players in all areas of the pitch, not even on the pitch, on the substitutes' bench and even in the stand you look at the number of quality players who didn't even make it to the bench on Saturday.

"That fills us with confidence knowing we have such quality players who cannot get a place on a given day as substitute, and it is good for the team to have so many options available."

He focused on tonight's match against Georgia and said: "The group situation is very much in our own hands now, which wasn't the case, so there is a real determination amongst the players to dig deep and to do whatever we have to in order to get those wins we need.

"We've done what we had to do on Saturday, we won the game, and we're all aware of the position we've put ourselves in and where we'll be if we win against Georgia. But I'm sure they'll provide stiff opposition, just as Albania did. They were difficult opponents we found difficult to penetrate, so I'm sure it will be more of the same now.

"But I'm also sure that if the crowd gets behind us as they did Saturday and if they will us forward hopefully, with the quality we have in the side, we can overcome this hurdle. If we do, it sets things up fantastically for the last two games.

"Psychologically, to win this game going into a summer break with the next game three months away, that would be an obvious advantage. There was obvious frustration there after we lost the first two games knowing that there was a three/four-month period before we could put things right.

"So, of course, I think it would be good to leave the squad on a high after two victories. That would be the ideal scenario for us and confidence levels would be high coming into the game against Russia in September. That's what we're striving to do."