Analysis: I know the so-called minnows had a great night on Saturday - Liechtenstein drawing with Portugal, Macedonia drawing with Holland, Slovenia beating Italy - but that really doesn't make me nervous about tonight, writes Mark Lawrenson.

I think we'll be okay. I'd honestly take 2-0 in this game - yes, four or five would be great, it would be the real icing on the cake, but the points now, after Saturday, are the important thing in this group.

A win would make the first stage of the campaign just about perfect. It would give the team something to build on when they start up in the qualifiers again next year. By then they would be in a position where they would need to be knocked off a comfortable perch by the rest of the group.

We'd settle for that position.

It's just vital we start this game well, as we did against France. And we must start at the right pace - it's very difficult in football to start slowly and then increase the pace, for whatever reason. If you start quickly, with real pace and pressure, opposition like this usually starts collapsing around the 70-75 minute mark.

If you begin a game at a leisurely pace you give the opposition an extra five or 10 minutes to hang in there, and that, at a stretch, can take them through to 90 minutes - and suddenly you're looking at a shock result, like a 0 -0 draw. You've just got to start brightly, pile the pressure on them from the first minute, take it from there.

I would go for Gary Doherty up front, regardless of whether Andy Reid's fit to play. Of course it's nice to play good, intelligent football, like we did against France, but you might need a sledgehammer against the Faroe Islands.

There'll be nothing wrong with Shay Given, occasionally, kicking a few long balls, just to mix it up, see how they deal with it. Sometimes, against these teams, you have to go route one a little bit. It's not everyone's ideal way of playing but if it gets you to the other end in 10 seconds, and you do it 15 or 20 times in the game, you're probably going to score one or two.

They won't be particularly used to playing against someone like Doherty and a big, forward like that is probably a bit "old-fashioned" for these teams.

Also, playing Doherty would enable Brian Kerr to play Damien Duff and Reid on the flanks. It's highly likely that it will be "massed ranks" at the back for the Faroes so you've really got to get in behind them, turn them around. Once you do that you can really put them to the sword.

Also, going back to Saturday, Clinton Morrison held the ball up really well, which is Doherty's strength - and that helps Robbie Keane, he can play off Doherty, get in behind people.

Also, in his relatively young career, you still get the best out of Duff on the left, so that's where I would play him.

Do we need Steve Finnan in midfield for this game? No, I don't think so. As well as he did on Saturday, it's a case of "thanks very much" - it's horses for courses. Kevin Kilbane and Roy Keane will protect the defence, if it needs protecting, so you attack them with four players, five when Kilbane gets forward.

Reid and Duff will comfortably supply the crosses and if you play them wide I think you really need to play Doherty up front. Just for this particular fixture. You probably won't play that way against, say, France at home. But playing that way would give us every conceivable option against the Faroes and we might need it against a team who have so far in this campaign proved to dogged enough adversaries.

The problem with playing Duff up with Robbie Keane is that they'll have four, if not five, at the back, with four in midfield, so there would be so many numbers around Duff all the time, his threat would probably be negated. When he plays out wide it's a little bit more difficult for teams to get as close to him as they would want. The same applies to Reid.

If Reid isn't fit to play I would stick with Finnan, rather than, say, opting for Liam Miller on the right. Miller is still relatively inexperienced and he just hasn't played enough football this season. You might get more out of him throwing him on with 20 minutes to go, rather than giving him the first 70 minutes.

I know Brian Kerr has been talking the Faroes up a little bit, referring to their performance against France and their draw against Cyprus but I think that it's, one, merely for the press, so they'll pass the message on to supporters, and, two, a little reminder to the players. But I really have no worries, I think we'll get it right against them, our approach will be spot on.

A few goals would be nice, but I'd just be happy enough with the three points. Which, after four games, would make it a superb start to the campaign and the perfect way to end this phase of the qualifiers.