When Roy Hodgson was asked recently to contrast the centre-halves England have brought to France (John Stones, Gary Cahill, Chris Smalling) with the choice Sven-Goran Eriksson had at World Cup in 2006 (Sol Campbell, Rio Ferdinand, Jamie Carragher and John Terry), he couldn’t quite bring himself to dispute the gulf in quality.

Asmir Begovic reckons his Bosnia-Herzegovina side can profit from the pressure on Ireland to deliver tonight in Dublin.

On the evidence of what we saw on Friday night in Zenica - when the fog wasn’t making it impossible to see anything at all - Ireland now have a big chance of qualifying for next year’s European Championship finals by beating Bosnia & Herzegovina in the Aviva Stadium tonight.

1. Retaining possession is key.

Martin O’Neill emerged out of the fog in Zenica last night with mixed feelings about what he had seen — and not seen.

Bosnia & Herzegovina 1 Republic of Ireland 1: After the fog of Zenica, we’re guaranteed clarity in Dublin on Monday night, with this European Championship play-off against Bosnia still finely poised.

Here’s a briefing on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com today.

Edin Dzeko tried to be diplomatic, even if he didn’t try too hard to think. After the Bosnia and Herzegovina striker spent a few minutes talking about how Ireland’s many absent players wouldn’t negatively affect Martin O’Neill’s side, the 29-year-old was asked which opposition players had impressed him.

Irish absentees in defence, midfield and up front tip the balance the way of the Bosnians in Zenica tonight, particularly when you factor in Edin Dzeko and Miralem Pjanic, two players better than anyone in our team, writes Liam Brady

As Ireland’s selection problems mounted last night, skipper Robbie Keane emphasised that traditional traits can still overcome the technical nous of Bosnia-Herzegovina to book him an international swansong in France next year.

“Thanks for your time,” someone says, as Roy Keane sits down to do his media briefing at Abbotstown.

As a teetotaller, Seamus Coleman couldn’t even drown his sorrows at missing out on featuring at the last two international tournaments.

Shane Long has lost ground in his race to be fit for next weekend’s European Championship play-off against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Martin O’Neill is hoping to get by Bosnia and Herzegovina with a little help from his friends – in particular Wales manager Chris Coleman.

So what’s the story with Martin O’Neill and the number 31?

After yesterday’s draw in Nyon had pitted Ireland against Bosnia and Herzegovina in November’s European Championship play-off, Martin O’Neill was gathered around a table with a small group of Irish journalists in UEFA’s ‘House Of Football’, when a staffer came in and began handing out sheets of paper containing confirmation of the dates of next month’s games.

Martin O’Neill says he is “delighted” that Ireland will have home advantage in the second leg of their Euros play-off against Bosnia-Herzegvina next month, but stresses his team will have to perform well away from home in the first leg if they are to hope to progress to the finals in France next year.

Ireland’s play-off opponents Bosnia-Herzegovina in numbers.

Thirty four miners are trapped deep inside a coal mine in central Bosnia that has collapsed.