Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill has told his players to draw inspiration from their giant-killing of world champions Germany as they attempt to keep their Euro 2016 hopes alive.

Ireland face a date with destiny in Lille on Wednesday evening when only victory over European aristocrats Italy, who have already clinched top spot in Group E with a game to spare, will give them any chance of making the last 16.

Coach Antonio Conte is being tipped to rest as many as nine of his senior men for what is effectively a dead rubber for the Italians, but it will still take a monumental effort by Ireland to emerge with the three points, just as they famously did against the same opposition at the 1994 World Cup finals in the United States.

However, it will not be that afternoon at the Giants Stadium which manager O'Neill will call to mind as he rallies his troops, but a glorious October night in Dublin when Shane Long blasted the nation back into the race for qualification with a shock 1-0 win over reigning world champions Germany.

The 64-year-old, who was joined by full-back Seamus Coleman at his press conference at the Stade Pierre Mauroy, said: "For players of Seamus' age, it (1994) seems a long time ago.

"We have got our own recent memories ourselves to inspire us, no more so than the night in October time when we beat the world champions.

"When you say it like that there, it just seems to disappear into the ether, but we beat the world champions on a night when we had to win and that's extraordinary, an extraordinary result.

"They weren't a normal side, they were the team that just 18 months earlier or whatever it was had gone to Brazil and won the World Cup, so that was a great moment for us."

Coleman, now 27, was just five years old the day Ray Houghton wrote himself into Ireland's football folklore with the winner in New Jersey, and while he has heard the stories and seen the footage since, he too cast his mind back just a few months in the search for motivation.

The Everton defender said: "We don't have to look too far back. That night in Dublin, Shane Long's goal, it was a memorable night for us all.

"We know that when it all clicks for and we stick together for the 90 minutes and we don't lose concentration that we are capable of beating big teams.

"I do genuinely believes that there's a big result left in us in this group."

Conte admitted he would make "between seven and nine" changes, but denied the game was merely a training exercise for his squad.

The Italy boss said: "We are not taking this match lightly by any means. There will be some decisions made which will show just how much it means to us. It's really important to us and it's really important to me.

"It's a fixture we want to win. We want to keep going because winning breeds confidence. If you think this match is a dead rubber, it's not the case for me."