The Republic’s abysmal display was riddled with defensive errors that had Staunton claiming he could not recall anything worse in his long association with his country.

Staunton insists he is not walking away from the job after just 10 months in charge, believing in his own abilities despite his lack of managerial experience.

But he now faces the greatest test of his career in attempting to raise morale ahead of Wednesday’s visit to Lansdowne Road of the Czech Republic, who top the group after last night’s 7-0 drubbing of San Marino.

Newcastle winger Duff pulled no punches in his condemnation of the performance as he said: “Absolutely shocking. That says it all.

“We made a good start, but there was a lot of bad defending, which starts from the front. But the goals we gave away were a joke.

“Even after they scored early in the second half with the penalty there was still 40 minutes to go.

“But we didn’t react like we did in the first half when we were 2-1 down, and that was very disappointing.

“Of course, there were words said at half time, and when we went out after the break we were positive we would still win the game.

“We expected to win it, and I don’t know if that was our downfall. But we’re all devastated. It was a terrible night.”

The questions now are how Staunton raises morale, and whether the players have it within themselves to lift their own spirits.

Staunton cancelled a warm-down training session in Limassol this morning, and instead called a team meeting to discuss last night’s disaster.

Duff, spelling out the magnitude of the defeat, added: “When you come to places like Cyprus you have to pick up points.

“It’s not acceptable dropping points here, even if we had drawn, that would still not have been acceptable.

“It’s also not acceptable for the fans to see us played off the park by a team ranked 60 places below us, but it shows where we are.”

Only San Marino are below Ireland in the Group D table due to an inferior goal difference, with Duff stating: “It’s now an uphill struggle to qualify for the finals.

“But there’s no other thing for it, we’re going to have to raise ourselves and try and give the fans something to cheer against the Czechs on Wednesday.”