And in many ways, certainly in my experience, the European Championship qualifiers are harder than the World Cup. It's definitely a tough group. Germany are obviously a considerable force after a fine World Cup, and though the Czech Republic had a disappointing tournament you'd still have them second favourites. Slovakia have some very good players while Wales will be no pushovers. So, if Staunton even comes close to qualifying then I think he's done really well.

He'll want to do it in a far more convincing fashion than Brian Kerr, however. For the World Cup, Kerr was in a great position after three games but we fell away miserably and look how the public turned against him.

Staunton's got to make his mark in these 12 games, but he couldn't face a tougher task for his first match than going to the backyard of the strongest team in the group.

That's not to say we should be pessimistic though. Germany performed surprisingly well in the World Cup, where I think Jurgen Klinsmann's positivity worked wonders for them.

But, if you analyse the games closely, I wouldn't read that they are a truly top team.

They were greatly helped in the first round by the luck of the draw while Sweden were a pretty poor side. In the quarter-finals, Argentina's manager Jose Pekerman made some bad mistakes and would have taken the Germans if he had the moral courage.

Against Italy, they contributed to what was probably the game of the tournament with a spirited performance, but in the end Germany simply didn't have it. Looking at those games, you can say that they were perhaps flattered by finishing in the last four. They did play with a lot of belief but, ultimately, I think playing at home, combined with the momentum they built, exaggerated their quality.

So, to give us no chance in Stuttgart would be wrong. Their new manager, Joachim Low, got off to a promising start with a 3-0 friendly win against Sweden, but their personnel still aren't too convincing, particularly at the back.

Philippe Lahm is a very good player while Jens Lehmann had a fine World Cup, but Arne Friedrich at right back didn't impress me at all, while they go into the Irish game missing three centre backs from the World Cup squad.

Per Mestesacker, Jens Nowotny and Robert Huth . . . none of whom were too convincing anyway . . . are all struggling with injury.

The way Germany are set up, they'll immediately take the game to us. To combat that, as I mentioned last week, Staunton's got to ensure we're organised in defence, strong on set-pieces and quickly close things down, which we didn't do against the Dutch.

The key, though, is getting our best players back. With them in, the lesser players feel much more confident. Roy Keane showed that in the memorable spell he had in the qualifers for the 2002 World Cup. I think his confidence rubbed off on the other players and hopefully the same can be said now of Robbie Keane, Damien Duff and Shay Given.

As for the team I would send out, Given in goals obviously, should he be fit, with Richard Dunne and Andy O'Brien in front of him. At right back, I'd give Stephen Carr one more chance and, with Ian Harte injured, put John O'Shea left back. In midfield, I'd have Steve Finnan on the right, Steven Reid and Liam Miller (left) in the centre with Duff on the left.

Miller might be a better option than Graham Kavanagh as he's the younger of the two and did alright despite difficult circumstances against Holland. Up front then, Kevin Doyle offers far more than Clinton Morrison and I'd partner him with Robbie Keane.

For me, that's a competitive enough first 11 to get a result. It's got a good mix and enough pace to hit the Germans on the break. A lot will go through Duff on the left, so in that case I'd have O'Shea staying back with Dunne and O'Brien for security, while Carr and Finnan can alternate forward runs on the right.

Both Reid and Miller can get in tackles in midfield and they're both decent on the ball.

Doyle's aggression and willingness to chase after everything may unhinge the Germans, and Robbie Keane can then work off that. I think that gives us a very good chance.

Obviously if someone gave you a draw now you'd snap their hand off, but it's entirely possible. Despite the debacle of the Dutch game, with our big players back in a competitive game it's a clean sheet of paper, and I fancy Staunton to start it with a positive.