While the likes of Paul McShane, Kevin Doyle, Stephen Hunt, Aiden McGeady and Shane Long clearly have plenty of ability, they are probably not gifted enough to usher in a new era in which our qualification for World Cup and European Championship finals is expected rather than hoped for.

The one exception I'd make here is Stephen Ireland. Now, he may not rise to quite the same heights as Duff and Keane, but he has composure on the ball, a touch of genuine class when you consider how well he took his goal against Wales, and it seems he has a bit of attitude as well. I don't know the ins and outs of his disagreement with Brian Kerr, but he definitely didn't shirk the confrontation.

Sven Goran Eriksson has brought quite a few players from abroad into Manchester City, and so far, Ireland has been holding his own.

He's someone who has a chance of playing at the very highest level.

Despite my reservations about the new guard, the clouds above Staunton are beginning to clear, and almost unbelievably, from a position after the Cyprus debacle when qualification appeared to be a forlorn hope, we could still take second place in the group from the Czech Republic.

And the credit for the renaissance . . .five games unbeaten in Group D . . . is mostly down to those less experienced players such as Ireland, McShane, Doyle and Hunt. They mightn't be world beaters as I've already mentioned, but they've brought a more positive attitude into the squad at exactly the time Staunton needed it.

Admittedly, there haven't been any truly memorable performances since the 1-1 draw with the Czechs at Lansdowne Road which steadied a ship that had been badly holed in Cyprus, yet it was crucial to deliver two home wins against Wales and Slovakia, and both the players and the manager came up with the results.

Staunton was given a ridiculously hard time by sections of the media, he was treated abominably in my view, but I think he showed strength of character by not getting involved with the criticism.

I've always felt that the time to make a considered judgement will be at the end of this campaign, and already there are shades of how it panned out for Mick McCarthy who also introduced a number of younger players when he started off as international manager.

McCarthy came close to qualifying at his first attempt, and eventually reaped a reward from giving those players that vital experience.

Even if Staunton's team have sort of stumbled into this position, the landscape is nowhere near as bleak as it was last October.

There is a new-found confidence in the side, provided in the main by the likes of Ireland, McShane, Doyle (right) and Hunt, and while some people have written off the recent 4-0 win in Denmark as an inconsequential result from a meaningless friendly, I believe we are entitled to read something into the performance.

Seven of the players who were in action in Aarhus . . . Wayne Henderson, Steve Finnan, Richard Dunne, John O'Shea, Hunt, Doyle and Keane . . . are likely to start against Slovakia next Saturday. Add in McShane, Ireland, Lee Carsley, and one from either Andy Reid or Kevin Kilbane, and you realise that the team has a pretty settled look about it.

Even though the Danes were demoralised, to win as convincingly as we did was still very impressive. And if Shay Given happens to be fit enough to take his place, the side will have experience, youth, a work ethic and the sort of self-belief that was so lacking at the start of the campaign.

A win in Slovakia is now a distinct possibility, and with the Czech Republic losing at home to Germany and only drawing in Cardiff against Wales in their last two games, a draw in Prague would not be a shock result. In order to stay in the hunt for qualification, four points is the minimum requirement from this road trip, and a win against Slovakia will probably become irrelevant anyway if we end up losing to the Czechs. The gap between second and third place in the group will be too wide.

As long as there aren't any injuries, the only decision Staunton will have to make going into the Slovakia game involves Reid and Kilbane, and who he selects will give us an indication of his mindset. I would go for Reid who looked fitter and leaner against Denmark after coming back from injury. The importance of the games won't worry him in the slightest, and I'd have him in a midfield with Ireland, Carsley and Hunt.

I don't see a place in the starting line-up for McGeady. He's very talented on the ball, very tidy and a good crosser, but like Long, he's someone you could bring off the bench to freshen things up.

Qualification is on the line now, and while Staunton and his team are both very much works in progress, I'm optimistic about these two games. The manager's new guard is beginning to win me over.