Blues trio Dara O’Shea, Jack Taylor and Chieo Ogbene all look set to start the Republic of Ireland’s all or nothing final World Cup qualifier against Hungary in Budapest this afternoon (KO 2pm, Amazon Prime).

Manager Heimir Hallgrimsson has said he is “tempted” to name the same team which dramatically beat Portugal 2-0 in Dublin on Thursday, Cristiano Ronaldo having been sent off in the second half for elbowing Blues skipper O’Shea after former Blues loanee Troy Parrott had bagged two first-half goals.

That result gave Ireland hope of a play-off place with the equation simple. Win the game and they will finish second in the group and go through to a play-off. Any other result and Hungary will remain above them.

Portugal, who host bottom side Armenia this afternoon without the suspended Ronaldo, should secure top spot and automatic qualification but with Hungary able to climb ahead of them should they beat Ireland and the Portuguese suffer an unexpected defeat in Porto.

Taylor says the win against Portugal proved a lot of people wrong, Ireland having endured a rocky World Cup qualification campaign up to that point.

“It changes the whole perspective of everything,” the midfielder told The Irish Sun. “People writing us off and things like that. It’s kind of a slap back in the face to those comments and stuff like that. Everyone sees certain things on social media and things like that.

“Obviously coming off a defeat to Armenia away was tough but we knew there were still games to play and there’s points to play for. Confidence wasn’t hit. It was just sort of like a kick in the teeth.

“It was a realisation that we need to come to the Aviva against Portugal and get a result, which thankfully we’ve done.

“You want to win your games against the bottom seeds in the group. But at the end of the day, it’s football. You go to a place like Armenia and they’re a good side. They’re tough to beat.

“Hungary only beat them 1-0. It just proves that they’re a good side and it’s a hard place to go.

“And no one wants to come here, to Dublin. Portugal found it hard to break us down and to defend against us when we’re countering.”

Reflecting on his own display on Thursday, his corner having led to Parrott’s first goal, he added: “Personally, I don’t think I played great. I’ve done my job for the team. We knew that with the players that they’ve got, they can open you up within a second. So just being nice and compact and then attacking their weaknesses.

“They’re in a high line and players like Chieo Ogbene, Troy Parrott and Finn Azaz up top can exploit that.

“It was obviously an unbelievable night for the whole squad and for the whole nation, to be fair.

“We deserved it, we’ve had some tough performances and tough days so all the people in that room deserved everything.”

Looking to today’s game, he continued: “It’s in our hands now so it’s what we want, going into the last game.

“It’s going to be a tough game but winning in Dublin is probably the best thing that could have happened for the group with the momentum going into Sunday.

Ogbene, who is on loan at Sheffield United for the season, says the victory on Thursday will mean little if they don’t back that up with a win this afternoon.

“This result hasn't defined us yet,” the winger, one of Ireland’s top performers against the Portuguese, told BBC Sport NI.

“We have to go to Hungary with a level head and we must win. It’s all or nothing, really. We can’t go there and try to get a draw as it won’t do us any good, so we need to win this game.

“We know it’s going to be difficult and they will know we have to win, so will be doing everything in their power to frustrate us. We just have to take this momentum and this feel-good factor and take it into Sunday.”

Reflecting on Ronaldo’s second-half dismissal, the 28-year-old added: “Frustration can kick in and happen to the best of us.

“Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best players in the world, if not the best, and it happened to him, but that's credit to the boys and how they defended.”

Ogbene has won 29 caps, scoring four international goals, O’Shea 40 and Taylor nine. Blues forward Kasey McAteer was left out of the squad.

Photo: Andrew Surma/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect