Martin O’Neill: Knowing we have to win gives us clarity

Daryl Murphy will remember last Friday’s home game against Moldova as the night he trebled his international tally.

Sean Maguire and Callum O’Dowda will have reason to think back fondly on it too whereas, for Shane Long, it will have been a night to forget.

But, for the rest of us, that 2-0 stroll in the park, if it sticks in the mind at all, will be recalled as the calm before the storm.