Ireland manager Martin O'Neill has emphasised fitness and adequate playing time at club level as one of the key factors when he comes to picking his Euro 2016 squad.
The former Aston Villa, Celtic and Leicester City manager joined Ger on Off The Ball to look back on the achievement in qualifying for a major tournament with the Boys in Green at the first attempt.
But in an in-depth chat, he also cast an eye forward to the next few months when the pieces will start aligning before the tournament kicks off next summer.
You can listen to the full interview right here:
He said: "Far be it from me to turn around and tell players, 'listen, you've got to tell clubs what you're going to do'. That is not the case. I would hate that as a club manager for people coming in and saying to me 'oh, by the way I want to play [one of my players in the team] because I've got an international match to worry about. You would be apoplectic with that but that's not the point. Players do need time on the field. These next few months, certainly after Christmas, in the lead-up to France, players do need to play. I can only choose so many players and fitness does play on your mind."
For instance, a few regular squad members like Everton winger Aiden McGeady have not had a huge deal of game-time at club level lately and O'Neill touched on that issue of pre-tournament momentum for players.
Martin O'Neill and Aiden McGeady ©INPHO/Cathal Noonan
"Aiden McGeady was a massive part of early proceedings. And we owe an awful lot to Aiden McGeady. His goal against Georgia in Georgia was fantastic. His one that gave us all three points was massive for us at the time and I don't forget those particular things. But players do need time on the field because it is important for fitness and important for confidence and if you're doing well, the higher up you're playing in, obviously the more confident you're going to be coming into a tournament if you get picked."
The former Nottingham Forest European Cup winner also explained why he sees the many late goals Ireland scored in the qualifier group as a good sign rather than a point of criticism.
"If you keep giving the ball away ridiculously badly then, I have to say, it becomes a problem. So those are the sort of things you want to do. But mostly you've got to compete and you've got have heart and soul in it and that's what pleased me. The side never, ever gave up. They kept going. Some people started to say 'you scored late goals' almost as if it was a criticism that you score late goals. Actually Manchester United made a habit of it for over a decade. For us to score late goals in matches, I thought that showed something, that we had a bit of courage and determination to keep going."
O'Neill also lavished praise on the Irish crowd, particularly highlighting the atmosphere from Monday night's playoff win over Bosnia.
Republic of Ireland supporters celebrate after the Bosnia game ©INPHO/Cathal Noonan
"When I took over a couple of years ago, our first game was against Latvia and I know supposedly it was the dawning of a new era as it is when any new coach takes his place for the first time, and the atmosphere that night - we got a feeling that the crowd were looking for something again, the experience of qualification for Poland was terrific," he said.
"Over the course of the qualification tournament itself, our record at the Aviva has been fantastic and that's obviously down to the crowd. I thought the atmosphere against Germany was extraordinary. I think it was surpassed on Monday night and probably because there was an end product at the end of the game. It was either France or bust."
But he also admitted that for a brief moment after the qualifier group draw for the Euros threw out Germany, Poland and Scotland for Ireland to face, he had to contemplate our daunting task.
"I must admit that when the draw came out, I wasn't especially pleased with it. There were other groups at that stage that we still thought we were in with a chance of getting into. But when it fell at Germany at Poland, at Scotland - a resurgent Scotland as well under Gordon Strachan - it put me on the back foot, but only for 20 minutes, and then you decide let's get on with it and let's see what we can do."
Looking back on the reactions to both the away defeat against Scotland and the home draw against the same opponents in the group, O'Neill remembered of the fallout from the second game in particular as: "People were out saying it was all over and it wasn't just blind bravado from me saying I didn't think it was over."
Listen to the interview in full on the podcast player.
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