I have qualified with less talented squads

HALLGRIMSSON HAS NO FEARS OVER IRELAND'S STRENGTH

- MARK MCCADDEN

AS IF there wasn't enough pressure on Heimir Hallgrímsson and his players ahead of the World Cup qualifiers later this year! Failure to make the 2026 tournament co-hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico would represent the longest gap between appearances on either the European or World stage since the country's breakthrough at Euro '88.

By 2026, 10 years will have passed since the last successful campaignand that would equal the distance between Ireland's 2002 World Cup heroics and the disastrous Euro 2012 showing.

Progress to the European Championships four years later and progress to the last-16 in France gave rise to optimism that regular qualifications were back on the cards.

Here we are, a few months out from a rapid-fire three-month series of World Cup qualifiers against Portugal, Hungary and Armenia.

Hallgrímsson has just one player in his current squad - Lille hero Robbie Brady - that featured at Euro 2016.

While he remains hopeful that Seamus Coleman will be available come September, it's a real knowledge deficit when it comes to successfully navigating a qualification campaign.

Giovanni Trapattoni had four veterans of the 2002 World Cup Shay Given, Richard Dunne, Damien Duff and Robbie Keane when he bridged a 10-year gap to progress to Euro 2012.

That experience, says Hallg rímsson, can be key. So expect Brady, and hopefully Coleman, to have big roles on and off the pitch by September's big kick-off.