The manager of Montenegro, Zoran Filipovic, likes to talk about “the white page of history” when describing his country’s place in the footballing world. While there was, no doubt, a deep sense of occasion in the Stadion Pod Goricom last night as Montenegro played their first competitive match since breaking away from Serbia, Ireland must be hoping the mood has gone a little flat by the time they reach this backwater of the Balkans.

What they will find in Podgorica should they choose to look carefully is a feeling that this Republic of Ireland team is no great shakes. “Italy and Bulgaria are favourites to finish top [of Group Eight],” the Montenegrin Football Federation president, Dejan Savicevic, said last week. “The other teams are good, too, as clubs from Cyprus have demonstrated their quality in Europe, while Ireland and Georgia should not be underestimated, either.”

In other words, they are among the also-rans. Savicevic is one of the world’s most famous Montenegrins, better known as the extravagantly talented footballer who won European Cups with Red Star Belgrade and AC Milan and more than 50 caps with Yugoslavia in the 1980s and 1990s. When Filipovic was asked by The Sunday Times to pick out somebody who could follow in the footsteps of Savicevic and other Montenegrin players such as Branko Brnovic and Predrag Mijatoviic, he gave an interesting reply. “Currently we have some real jewels in our team — Mirko Vucinic, Stevan Jovetic, Simon Vukcevic and Igor Burzanovic. All of them can compete at the highest international level.”

Three of those four play as attacking midfielders or strikers. In pointing to his side’s greatest strength, Filipovic also gives a good idea of their greatest weakness. He is known to favour an attacking 4-2-3-1 system, along the lines of one he says was first used in the 1970s by a Red Star Belgrade side in which he was centre-forward.

When announcing his squad, Filipovic drafted in the 6ft 3in striker Dejan Damjanovic from FC Seoul. As befits the Balkan region, Damjanovic was born in the town of Mostar in Bosnia and fled to Belgrade when the war began, but qualifies to play for Montenegro because of his parentage. Should he feature on Wednesday, he may well be a lone striker, with Montenegro’s big names employed in three advanced midfield positions behind him.

Their most feted player is Vucinic, who scored nine times for Roma last season to help them to second place in Serie A. His strike rate for his country is more impressive — four goals in six friendlies.

Filipovic may use Vucinic on the right of the attacking three, with Jovetic, the exciting teenager whom Fiorentina signed from FK Partizan in July for €8m, in the middle. Curiously, the manager hasn’t mentioned Branko Boskovic, the Rapid Vienna midfielder who was hailed as the next big thing when he signed for Red Star Belgrade as a teenager. The past 10 years have been difficult for Boskovic — most notably when he got on the wrong side of Vahid Halilhodzic after moving to PSG — but he has since rediscovered some of his form at Rapid Vienna. Boskovic is renowned for his poise, vision and eye for goal, though he may find himself competing with Vukcevic for a place in the starting line-up.

Either way, Filipovic is intent on playing Ireland on Montenegro’s terms. “We definitely plan to make them play with our style, which should give us a good result. It depends on how the game will develop,” Filipovic says. “Maybe we will force them to defend, but they could well do the same thing.”

Montenegro are one of the leading golf bandits of the Fifa rankings; they climbed a further seven places to 136 last week and their home record gives them ample cause for optimism. The Montenegrin FA was founded in 2006 after the dissolution of the state of Serbia and Montenegro and in their first international in March last year they defeated Hungary 2-1 in front of 12,000 fans who ignored heavy rain to pack the Stadion Pod Goricom. Since then, they have also defeated Norway and

Kazakhstan at home, with Sweden the only side to win in Podgorica, at least before last night’s game against Bulgaria.

“I am absolutely delighted with the progress we have made,” Filipovic says. “We have started from zero and managed to build a lot of good things during our first year, regarding selecting a group of players for the qualifications. We have played 10 friendly games so far and won four of them, with two draws. I have seen many positive things and those games were a good filter, which showed us which players can be the cornerstone of our squad.”

What Filipovic is desperately lacking is defensive solidity and, while they have a good chance of scoring on Wednesday, they are also likely to concede. Their defensive midfielders have yet to master the art of obeying instructions, while Filipovic has also been known to pick midfielders in defence, Vladimir Bozovic’s deployment at left-back being an example.

Still, the manager has been emboldened by the absence of the injured Damien Duff. “I am happy that Duff, a player I admire very much, will not be coming to Podgorica, but we will still have a lot of work to do trying to contain Robbie Keane in attack. They [Ireland] are fighters, they never give up, which I must say is not a common thing in football these days,” Filipovic says.

The passage of first Bulgaria’s Dimitar Berbatov and then Keane through Podgorica is a footnote to the main proceedings and Filipovic recognises that even a small nation such as the Republic of Ireland are operating at a different level.

“Ireland has great financial capacities. They got a great leader in [Giovanni] Trapattoni. But not all is about money. The team spirit counts, too, the atmosphere in the dressing room is not less important and I strongly believe that those are the factors that determine the winner in international football. We are far behind other squads from our group, because of our small population [650,000], but also football conditions. The most important thing is to play hard every game. I am sure that nobody will have a good time in Podgorica. With good support, we will be a tough nut for every team.”

In his time, Mick McCarthy awarded an “I had a Macedonia” shirt to his players after a disastrous trip to a little-known Balkan state. Trapattoni must beware Montenegro doesn’t become his Macedonia.

ON TV ON WEDNESDAY

Montenegro v Republic of Ireland

5.30pm RTE2

6pm Setanta Ireland