It’s unlikely that the fee for excess baggage was on his mind, but Anthony Barry opted not to bring the Champions League winner’s medal, which he picked up as part of the Chelsea squad last month, into the Ireland camp once club duties freed up the coach to enter a spell of national service.

With no player from the Irish squad even within sniffing distance of a major trophy, relegation from the Premier League (John Egan, Enda Stevens, Dara O’Shea, Callum Robinson) and even the Championship (Daryl Horgan) is more likely to be the lot of the Irish footballer these days.

So we’ll take the proximity to greatness that Barry’s link with Chelsea affords, and wonder if small pieces of a jigsaw like that can combine and make this Ireland side something close to a force again.

“He didn’t bring his medal, no. I’d say he’s too humble for that,” says Ireland’s interim captain John Egan, when asked if Barry carried his silverware into the Irish set-up.

“But he is a top, top coach, a really good coach. This is obviously my first camp working with him and the ideas I’ve learned from him have been unreal in a week already.

“I can see why he is at a club like Chelsea, and it’s fantastic that we have him here. It’s fantastic for every player here to learn from him.

“The manager, Keith [Andrews] and Anthony Barry, the ideas we are getting on the training pitch are fantastic. Anthony has obviously come back from the Champions League final with Chelsea, and the ideas he is bringing into the camp are second to none.

“We are all like sponges really, just trying to learn and trying to improve every day. I think it’s been really beneficial this week.

“Obviously we are missing some players through injury and stuff, they are going to come back into the fold. They have missed this camp but that’s just football.

“I think everybody who has come away has learned a lot and benefited a lot on and off the pitch. So, overall, it’s been a good camp so far.”

Rookies like Caoimhín Kelleher, Andrew Omobamidele, Danny Mandroiu and Chiedozie Ogbene hope to use tonight’s game to move a few steps up the ladder of international football by making their senior debuts.

But the trip so far has already been a boon to Troy Parrott, one of three teenagers in the squad but the one with the most caps (five).

Egan was 24 when he made his senior debut so he’s in a position to offer advice to the younger lads. Players like Parrott, who are growing up in the public eye, where every movement is analysed and pressure from social media has been so intense that the likes of Aaron Connolly had to delete his accounts, on the back of comments sent his way after a game for Brighton.

“I try to,” says Egan when asked if he offers guidance.

“It’s kind of mind-blowing, because people have got to realise what age these guys are. They are so young. To be playing at this level at that age is unreal. They have just got to try and take the pressure off themselves somehow. With social media these days, they probably can’t get away from it, so it’s tough.

“But the age of all the lads coming through, all the young lads, it’s fantastic for Ireland, it’s exciting. The more they learn and the more games they get at club level, and the more experience they get, they’ll mature into fine players.

“It’s up to them really to work hard and try to improve every day, and see where it can take them. For me, looking at the young lads coming through, it’s really exciting.”

Egan knows all about patience when it comes to international football, with a wait until his fifth appearance for the senior team to be in a winning side, against Bulgaria.

Last week’s victory over Andorra was welcome but better will be required to overcome a Hungarian side who play their last warm-up game before Euro 2020, hoping to carry on an unbeaten 10-game run.

“We know what we want to do, and go out there and score goals and not concede goals, and be positive,” he says.

“They’re a really good team. They’re obviously going to the Euros and they are probably full of excitement at the moment, so we’re going to be under no illusions that it’s going to be an easy game or whatever. We know it’s going to be a really tough game.

“But we believe in ourselves, we want to go and put on a good performance and try to get a result. It might be a friendly, but we just want to try and build momentum to take ourselves into the next round of internationals, and that’s what we’ll try to do tonight.

“Obviously, with no disrespect, we expect to be beating Andorra. We did that and now we’re coming up against a really kind of, I suppose, established outfit in Hungary.

“They’ve been playing together for a while and they’ve obviously qualified for a major tournament, so it’s going to be a tougher game. But we’re confident.”