Stephen Kenny's Republic of Ireland side looks like it's finally starting to click after successive victories over Azerbaijan and Qatar and Jamie McGrath has been one of the key men.
The 25-year-old midfielder got his chance on the international stage after impressing with his club St Mirren.
His performances have led to interest from a number of big clubs, some reportedly from Premier League sides, in the ex Dundalk man.
However, St Mirren boss Jim Goodwin is eager to keep McGrath and the club have reportedly made a "record" contract offer to keep him in Scotland.
Goodwin said: “We're all extremely proud of what Jamie has achieved in the last 18 months. I watched the first hour of the Ireland game against Qatar and Jamie was excellent again. We're delighted for him.
“He was taken down for the penalty and I said to him this morning I was disappointed he handed the ball over so easily because I'd have loved to have seen him step up and take that. I've no doubt he'd have put it into the back of the net.
“I did stress to Jamie over the summer not to be disappointed about that the moves didn't happen because it might be a blessing in disguise.
“No disrespect to the clubs involved in the summer, but I believe come January there'll probably be another six or seven really big clubs interested. That's credit to Jamie.
“The kind of character he is, he could have thrown his toys out the pram when the deal wasn't allowed to happen but he's got on with things. He's shown he's willing to give his all for our jersey while he's here.
“We've made an incredible offer to Jamie, we need to make that clear. We've made him an offer we've never made a player in the history of the club.
“But we're not stupid. We know he's going to have numerous other offers and no doubt someone might come in and blow us out of the water.
“We want Jamie to know exactly what we think of him and reward him with a great contract. Whether he takes it or not, it's up to him but our supporters need to know we're not giving up hope just yet.”
