European Championship 2008 draw: I don't know what Walter Smith did in a former life to deserve the draw Scotland got yesterday - France, Italy and Ukraine? - but when you look at it you have to concede that Ireland's group could have been a whole lot worse.

The Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia, Wales and Ireland will all believe they have a chance, although we still have to be realistic about our prospects.

We will, of course, take a special interest now in how the Germans and Czechs fare in the World Cup, but while Germany clearly have been a better side than they are at the moment I think the same can said for the Czechs. Yes, their World Cup qualifying campaign was hugely impressive, finishing second in their group behind the unbeaten Dutch, and yes, they are ranked second in the world, but I still think they were a stronger side a couple of years ago.

Of the top three seeds Slovakia are probably the up-and-coming team. They did well to reach the play-offs for the World Cup and if they carry on developing as they are they might fancy their chances of finishing in the top two in the group. They are definitely a team to be wary of.

Wales are very similar to us in many ways. When all their major players are playing, when everyone is fit, they're a handful to play against, but when the big names are missing - and they always seem to struggle to get Ryan Giggs and Craig Bellamy fit - they just don't have enough quality in reserve and can be very mediocre.

And, to be honest, that's the level we're at now too when we're without our better players; we just don't have any strength in reserve.

As for Cyprus (yet again) and San Marino, all you can say is nice trips - if we can't beat them, well...

What's absolutely crucial is the scheduling of the games. Steve Staunton will need someone very experienced with him when it comes to arranging the fixtures, someone who has done it before. You can be sure that John Toshack, the Welsh manager, will be looking for the same kind of scheduling as us, namely getting the top seeds early in the season.

Ideally we will get the Germans and the Czechs at the start of each season. Physically, freshness-wise, we're at our best then. Because of the nature of the leagues in which most of our players are involved we play more games than these other countries, and when we get to March, April, May we're a bit low on gas, a little leg-weary, and the players are carrying all sorts of knocks.

So, I'd rather get the big games out of the way early on, even playing the Germans and Czechs next September or October wouldn't seriously worry me. It's when we're at our strongest and freshest.

It wouldn't even bother me too much if the Germans and/or Czechs had very good World Cups because we've seen it before; often it's a case of "after the Lord Mayor's Show" - it can actually be a good time to play these teams.

While the FAI and Staunton have, before yesterday, played down our hopes of qualifying for the next European Championships, with Staunton suggesting that the real target is the next World Cup, this draw might just raise expectations a little, certainly among the supporters.

It is, though, very important that Staunton continues to play it down because the simple fact is we don't have enough players coming through to replace the ones we lost. We don't have enough players of real quality and, undeniably, the Czech Republic, Germany and Slovakia are better teams than us.

All the talk, of course, has been about the "granny rule" and how Staunton will exploit it more fully. And he knows he needs to find some players - that's the bottom line. But I honestly find it hard to believe that Brian Kerr missed any possibilities on that front. And, to be quite honest, some of the names that have been mentioned so far are hardly going to improve us significantly - they might give us greater "quantity", squad-wise, but I'm not sure they'll give us greater quality.

But who knows? Maybe there are better-quality players out there with Irish connections, and what this draw might just do is encourage them to declare for us, simply because there is a glimmer of hope that we might qualify for the European Championships.

But that's really all it is - a glimmer of hope. It's a big, big ask. We would have to play so well and so consistently through all the games for us to have a chance.

Realistically, I don't see us qualifying, which is terrible thing to say mere hours after the draw has been made, but, as things stand now, I just don't believe we have the players. Perhaps two years down the line we'll be in better shape, but while this draw certainly could have been worse I don't think we're strong enough at the moment to take advantage.