At the end of a week dominated by Roy Keane and that book, Martin O’Neill must have been relieved to focus on the Republic of Ireland’s preparations for the match with Gibraltar in Dublin on Saturday but warned his team are “not good enough” to be complacent against a side whose competitive debut ended in a 7-0 defeat to Poland.

O’Neill has been studying footage of Gibraltar’s only qualifier and highlighted the difficulties Poland faced early on in breaking them down. He admits Ireland should win but being such overwhelming favourites is a position they have not been used to in recent times.

“We, seriously, will not be good enough to be complacent, certainly not,” O’Neill said. “We are expected to win, don’t get me wrong. There’s a difference. We are expected to win and that’s our intention. But that’s it. We might not be able to break them down as easily as one might think. The emphasis is on us, we know that. Gibraltar are not expected to beat us.”

Ireland have often struggled to rack up big scores against lesser opposition and O’Neill was keen to stress the need for patience but a resounding win would be a confidence boost before Tuesday’s trip to face Germany.

“Traditionally, we are not phenomenal goalscorers, so we have to be creating chances in the game because we will miss one or two,” O’Neill said.

The Ireland manager has a couple of selection problems, with Brian Lenihan, a 20-year-old defender yet to make a competitive appearance for Hull City having joined from Cork City in August, the only recognised right-back in the squad. John O’Shea may move from his central position with Seamus Coleman missing. Richard Keogh has been ruled out, while James McCarthy’s absence means David Meyler could slot in alongside Glenn Whelan in defence.

Those problems, though, appear minor compared with the shortage of options available to the Gibraltar head coach, Allen Bula. They were so desperate for experienced players a call was made to bring the Oldham Athletic manager, Lee Johnson, out of retirement. The 33-year-old, who stopped playing 18 months ago, politely turned down the chance to join the squad – despite his grandmother being a “full Gibraltarian”.

Bula had named his squad for the Ireland game and Tuesday’s match with Georgia early so players could organise time off with their employers. There are three British-based members of the 20-strong party – the Preston North End defender Scott Wiseman, Bristol Rovers’ Jake Gosling and Adam Priestley, a striker with Farsley in the Evo-Stik First Division North.

Bula’s team had started promisingly against Poland before fading dramatically. They reached half-time only one behind, before Robert Lewandowski scored four times as Gibraltar’s fitness levels waned.

“We have to be really positive from moment one. We also have to be a wee bit careful at the back not to leave ourselves stretched because a couple of times, they broke clearly on Poland and had those opportunities – they didn’t finish them and obviously got tired towards the end,” O’Neill said.

“I think they will have learned a lot from that particular experience but let’s be honest, we should win the game, we are expected to win the game, so I am not going to hide away from that.”

Republic of Ireland (possible) Forde; O’Shea, Clark, Wilson,Ward; Whelan, Meyler; Walters, Quinn, McGeady; Keane.

Gibraltar (possible) J Pérez; Wiseman, J Chipolina, R Casciaro, R Chipolina; L Casciaro, Bado, Walker, B Pérez, Gosling; K Casciaro.

Referee L Trattou (Cyp).