Givens has just over six weeks to address the problems evident at the Municipal Stadium.

He told the Press Association: “We need a result after what was a poor performance.

“Although we lost against France in our previous game, we still went into last night’s match on the back of what was a decent display.”

There was mitigation for last night’s poor showing.

“There were a number of players missing, and we had six people making their debuts,” Givens noted.

“But it wasn’t a great night to do that, and I am not going to make it an excuse.

“The team I put out was still a reasonable one. But they had an off night together, and we struggled. Our passing and control was a great disappointment.

“I appreciate Portugal are a very good team, one of the best under-age sides in Europe – so going there was always going to be difficult and not one to get your confidence back.”

Even so Givens was hoping for better.

“I was still surprised at our performance because we were below par and people who have been playing well didn’t perform to the level I know they are capable of,” he said.

“I will now be talking to the lads individually over the next few weeks and hope we will get our strongest players back and go out to Israel and produce on the night.”

After opening the group with a win over Cyprus, the Republic’s defeats in Switzerland and France have made it a must-win fixture in Israel.

Givens remains optimistic, adding: “The game with Israel is crucial because we have to get something out of it.

“We have three home games after that before going to Cyprus, and I am confident we can beat both Switzerland and France at home. But before then we must get a result in Israel, and I feel we can do that.”

Against Portugal, Givens was missing at least six players who ordinarily would have made the starting line-up – notably Sunderland’s Stephen Elliott and Aiden McGeady of Celtic who were promoted into the senior squad for tonight’s Lansdowne Road clash with the Portuguese.

Givens would hope to have both those players available next time, bearing in mind the critical nature of the game.

But cautiously he stated: “I’m not so sure.

“It’s a situation I will be discussing with Brian after tonight’s game. We will have to wait and see.”