From Troy Parrott versus Evan Ferguson to Ryan Manning’s sudden elevation from exile to the starting-11, to Ireland’s approach to Sunday’s second-leg, head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson was quizzed on a wide range of subjects after Thursday’s first-leg win against Bulgaria.

He also gave brief thoughts on Denmark’s first-leg win over Portugal, with the winner of that tie moving into Ireland’s World Cup qualification group, along with the Boys in Green, Hungary and Armenia.

“I think you saw in this game that he’s sharp. He’s sharp because he’s playing all of the time and he’s playing Europa League games against good opponents so he just transferred that to this game.

“I think it was the correct decision to play him in this game.”

“That was the plan (to start Callum O’Dowda against Bulgaria, before he withdrew from the squad), to play two left-footed players on the left wing.

“There is so little difference between these players. They all have really good attacking qualities, whether it’s Robbie, Ryan or Callum. For us it was a no-brainer.”

“Listen, it (Bulgaria) is a team which hadn’t lost at home since this coach took over, 13 games ago now. They are really good results. They’re difficult to break them down.

“We analysed the game and we thought it was going to be played like this, with the spaces in behind, meaning we needed a good runner in behind, good crosses etcetera.

“I think that was the case.”

“I think now it’s a different scenario. (Bulgaria) need to come to Dublin, win the game and score goals.

“But I always think defending higher up the pitch is easier. If you try to win it there it makes it easier for the defenders to defend higher up the pitch.

“We need good legs from the guys up top. It’s a lot of work for them defensively and that’s what we want in Dublin.”

“It’s difficult in a match like this to come in as a sub. We did five changes and sometimes the game loses momentum.

“I think they made five changes as well, so the game becomes a little bit disorganised at this time.

“But it’s good for us to cool it down. We were afraid of our players getting yellow cards.