“I think it would be important anyway for them to win,” he said, “but if we’re five points ahead of them, they wouldn’t want to lose that’s for sure. But I can’t affect Denmark or Switzerland, they’re two bloomin’ good sides. They’re capable of coming here and beating us, that’s for sure.”

Of course, that’s just the manager stating no more than the bald truth about something that’s always possible. What’s perhaps of more significance, on the back of two wins and a high-quality display against Georgia, is that it no longer seems like wishful thinking to imagine a rejuvenated Ireland getting results against the group’s top two.

That his team were able to match points with performance on Tuesday, he feels, is key to developing confidence and momentum.

“It’s really important because the positivity and goodwill and backing and encouragement can soon fly out of the window if you get beat, even in playing as well as we have done, and I think we played really well the other night,” said McCarthy.

“People are asking me about momentum, well, maybe we’ve got a bit of momentum now and we can actually believe we can win games. I heard them in the dressing room (saying), ‘that’s how an Irish team plays, that’s how we want to play, we want to get up and press teams and stop them playing’. Consequently we end up playing further forward and playing in their half. I think they were terrific, the lads, and if I can get more out of them than I got the other night then I will be delighted.”

In terms of broadening his range of options, McCarthy sees another potential dividend in Ireland’s winning start to the campaign.

“We have got six points and maybe one or two who we have been trying to get might go ‘hold on a minute’ and might sit up and take a look at us at the top of the group,” he observed.

That’s a nice part of it.

McCarthy had praise for the work put in by his coaching staff with the current crop in helping “get a tune out of all of them” but he didn’t deny that his past working relationship with David McGoldrick at Ipswich might have been particularly helpful in the player’s emergence as a key figure for Ireland in the opening two games, his man of the match award and standing ovation from the crowd at the Aviva on Tuesday in stark contrast to his also-ran status under Martin O’Neill.

“I’ve got a great rapport with Didzy,” McCarthy said. “He’s somebody who I admire, respect and trust and maybe that helps get a tune out of somebody. He was great for Ipswich and great for me.”

Asked how influential he had been in McGoldrick deciding to declare for Ireland, McCarthy said: “I spoke to him and told him to do it, yeah, absolutely. I wanted him to play for Ireland because he’s a bloody good player, whether I ever got the job or not.

“He wanted to do it. He just came and spoke to me about it. He said ‘I’ve been asked, what do you think?’ and I said ‘go and do it’. He did it and he was committed to it.”

Glenn Whelan is another of the players who drew superlatives from the manager for his performance on Tuesday.

“To play in a 4-3-3 I need a sitter around the place and he was outstanding,” said McCarthy. “His passing was great and he broke things up, a real all-round performance.”

Next up for McCarthy and Ireland is a training camp in Portugal in May, with the manager yet to decide if he will bring an expanded squad of players to the Algarve.

“Well, it depends,” he said. “The Championship finishes on May 5 and the Premier League on the 12th and there may well be players in the Championship play-offs. So I might have to take players who have not been involved in that and let other players come in later. You know what, I don’t really know as that’s a bit of a conundrum for me.”

There was only one question blanked by the manager and, not surprisingly, it involved the crisis-hit FAI. Asked if, with John Delaney no longer CEO, the managerial succession plan — whereby Stephen Kenny will take over the senior team after the Euros — was still in place, McCarthy simply replied: “Ask me about the football.”