Republic of Ireland need 'perfect game' in Portugal

Fifa World Cup qualifier: Portugal v Republic of Ireland

Venue: Estadio Jose Alvalade, Lisbon Date: Saturday, 11 October Kick-off: 19:45 BST

Coverage: Live text commentary on BBC Sport website

Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson said his side must produce "almost a perfect game" to get something against Portugal on Saturday.

Hallgrimsson's side travel to Lisbon with their hopes of qualifying for next year's World Cup hanging by a thread following a draw with Hungary and a defeat by Armenia in September.

But the Icelander is hopeful his side can the right the wrongs of the last window, starting against the Group F leaders in Lisbon.

"First of all, we know that we need to have almost a perfect game to get something from this match. If we do, we have a chance to steal a point or to win the game," he said.

"I think everyone that played this game in Armenia wants to correct what went wrong there, whether it was personal performance or collective performance.

"Everybody likes to have this opportunity that we have tomorrow to play against one of the best teams in the world and to correct what went wrong."

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'We must maximise what we take from our chances'

Nations League winners Portugal have won 18 of their previous 21 World Cup qualifying games and are unbeaten in their past six home games against Republic of Ireland.

They have a supremely talented squad, still spearheaded by legendary forward and captain Cristiano Ronaldo, who memorably scored two late headers to break Irish hearts in World Cup qualifying four years ago.

Hallgrimsson acknowledged that trying to contain Portugal's multiple attacking threats will be the "most challenging thing", but he has also called for his side to show a clinical edge to capitalise on any opportunities presented to them.

"We know from their past matches and against almost all their opponents, they will have possession, let's say, 60-70% tomorrow," Hallgrimsson added.

"We will be defending a lot of the time. The goalscoring threats from their players is not one player, it's a lot of them. So we cannot be focusing on one and then just another one will shine. That's going to be the toughest one.

"And then for our forwards to use the opportunities we get, probably there's not going to be many goalscoring chances, but we must maximise what we take from our chances."