It's great and very uplifting.

The performance in Athens where we beat Greece during the week was really exceptional and I always try to look into performances rather than results. That's as important at this level because it's here that the players need to perform if they're going to have a chance of making it at the next step up. So I'm always very much aware of how well the guys are playing and whether they getting certain things right. With this group it's all been working out because the way we are playing is getting us the results as well. If we could pull off the next one against Belgium [in September at Terryland Park], that would be absolutely marvellous.

But then again, the senior team is the most important and we have to realise that the mood will be dictated by them. They are the ones that people are looking towards.

So when we have a bad result and a very poor performance while we're at it, the reaction we've had is always going to come. People prefer to look towards the worst. They don't get their teeth into positive stuff but they are certainly experts when it comes to getting stuck into the negative.

You have to accept that though and I can see why people might be negative given the Holland result. Any time we lose heavily, and especially at home, there's that feeling that it's all about to fall apart but that doesn't mean we are going to disappear off the international radar. Still. . . I think the Irish can get carried away and sometimes I don't think people realise we are a very, very small country. We are in competition with other sports more so than other nations, and that dilutes the numbers there for us even further. So when you take that into account, it is really remarkable how well the senior team have performed over the last couple of decades. But to expect us to qualify for World Cups and European Championships every time around is a bit unrealistic to tell the truth.

We have done marvellously and punched above our weight for quite a few years now. It's impossible to constantly do that though.

We still have some good players and an awful lot of quality that other countries would love to have, and as long as we are realistic there are no huge problems. Add to that the fact there are also some names within this under-21 side that are real prospects and you realise there's no drought on the way because of one friendly result.

This under-21 side is a perfect example of how we will go on. Obviously the further up the ladder you go the harder it gets. So we do lose some of the boys along the way and they don't all appear on bigger days but it's important at under-21 and it can be a gauge for the future of Irish soccer.

There is a lot of talent within this group at present. They are a good solid group of players and it's great to work with them. Some of them are a little bit older because of the new timeframe that will see the under-21 championships played in odd years and avoid the European Championships and World Cup.

Some of them are born in 1984 which should have meant they are past the date now but these new formats have given them an extra little platform and a little more time to develop. And so we have people like Paul Keegan, Glen Whelan, Jay Tabb and Kevin Foley playing, but they are all taking their chances well and the progression has been very positive.

We are third seeds in a mini-group of three and we went to Greece just hoping that maybe we could bring back something for the Belgium game. But what happened was a wonderful surprise and has put us in a good position. People should focus on that as well as the Holland game and be balanced and realise it's not all doom and gloom.

Don Givens is Irish under-21 manager and a former senior international who scored 19 goals in 56 appearances In conversation with Ewan MacKenna