The squad are on a high following their 2-1 victory in Georgia which earned them their first points of the qualifying campaign, and they were boosted further by the news that Tottenham striker Robbie Keane had already arrived in the Albanian capital before them.

O’Shea, 21, who played his first competitive senior international in Tbilisi on Saturday, told how he was given the low-down on Albania by fellow Old Trafford defender Brown – who came off the bench for England in a World Cup qualifying match in Tirana two years ago.

“Wes told me to expect a tough game,” said O’Shea. “He just told me that it wasn’t the best of places, never mind the football but the country itself, and that it was a case of having to go in and do a job and get out of there, and we’ll do the same.

“The crowd will be very hostile and with the result they got at the weekend when they beat Russia it’s going to be a packed house. We’ll be up against it but it’s not something we haven’t faced before.”

O’Shea experienced at first hand the kind of intimidation the players might face when missiles – including an open pen-knife – were thrown at them by Georgian fans in the Lokomitiv Stadium.

He said: “It was an interesting and definitely new experience with some of the items that were thrown on the pitch and I’m just glad we all came out of it unscathed and got the good win we needed.

“We are all professional but we had to keep our discipline. We could have got carried away with it and started ranting and raving at the referee a bit too much and lost our composure, but we kept a good unit together and we started our good attacking play again and we created some good scoring chances.”

O’Shea is rapidly emerging as a quality international who can play anywhere across the defence. He was delighted that his first competitive international should also be the manager’s first competitive game in charge, as it was Kerr who first gave him his chance at youth level.

The youngster revealed how he would often telephone Kerr to ask for his advice when he was trying to establish himself at Old Trafford.

“It is a perfect scenario for me really,” said O’Shea. “I have known Brian all through my career and I spoke to him on numerous occasions when I was on loan with different teams, just to get that little bit of advice, and he was always helpful.

“I was just worried as to whether I would get a few games if I went back or little things like that, and Brian gave me good advice and told me just to keep going and not to get worried.”

Sunderland’s Kevin Kilbane is Ireland’s only injury worry as he has a slight groin strain, but is expected to be fit to face Albania.