The bottom line on World Cup qualification

So then, what do we call the squeaky bum time which precedes the squeaky bum time? asks Liam Mackey

Whatever it is — and probably even Alex Ferguson hasn’t got a phrase to describe it — it’s where the Irish team finds itself as they begin their build-up on Monday to the final two games of the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign.

Or, rather, the final two Group D games because, should Ireland buck this year’s downward trend by mounting a grandstand finish against Moldova next Friday, and Wales the following Monday then, assuming second place turns out to be enough to see them through to the play-offs, they will still have two more even higher-stakes nail-biters to negotiate if they’re to take their place in the finals in Russia next year.