TARMO KINK believes Estonia have nothing to lose as they go into the biggest game of their lives tomorrow.

Estonia face Ireland in the first of two legs, with the winners getting a place in Euro 2012. And, despite the Republic being clear favourites, Middlesbrough midfielder Kink is convinced that Estonia's team ethic will bear fruit in Tallinn.

He said: "Of course we will be underdogs, Ireland are the favourites, but this is football, anything can happen. We just need to be disciplined and try to play our own game.

"We need to try to hold the ball up, possession will be 60-40 in their favour but that doesn't mean they are going to win.

"This is our biggest game ever. We have got so close now, closer than we've ever been.

"If we do lose it won't be a big surprise, we have already achieved something almost impossible by getting to the play-offs in a group with Italy, Slovenia, Serbia - all teams who were in the World Cup last time. But I know that our team want to win against the highest teams."

While Konstantin Vassiljev - who scored both goals in a 2-1 win against Northern Ireland last month that ensured second place in Group C - is Estonia's star player, with 14 goals in his 47 appearances, Kink believes that the sum of their parts is greater than Ireland's individual strengths.

Kink said: "I think Aiden McGeady is their main player who can cause damage to us. They have decent individuals like Kevin Doyle who, although he's not playing the first leg, he's a good player.

"They have players like Damien Duff, who is excellent. He was one of my favourite players when I was coming into the game, so I'm looking forward to that.

"They have good players - we don't have the individuals but we're a team and we can give them a game. They are where they are because of their individuals and we are where we are through teamwork.

"I can't say we are confident because we are the underdogs, but we are going to do everything we can to get to Euro 2012."

This is the closest Estonia have been to qualification for a major tournament - they were fifth in the table when the play-off seeds were announced - and Kink is confident that whatever the aggregate result, the performance of the national team has raised the profile in Estonia.

"I think it would be the biggest achievement in my career, and also for the country," said Kink.

"For a country like us to do something in football, we know how small we are, if you can go to a European Championship it would be unbelievable.

"We are like Olympic champions already, it's difficult - so many people play football - so just to be there will be ‘wow', a historical moment for us.

"For me it would be a dream come true, playing the best teams in the world, it's everything you need. Hopefully we can do it."

In Estonia's path lie Ireland, who have not qualified for a major tournament since the World Cup in Japan and Korea in 2002.

Giovanni Trapattoni's team are a formidable outfit, losing just once in their qualification campaign. But once again, the Irish find themselves in a play-off situation - this time, unlike against France in 2009, Ireland have the rare honour of being favourites rather than underdogs, a tag which previous Ireland teams under Mick McCarthy and Jack Charlton have thrived on.

Without doubt, an Estonia qualification, Kink believes, will be massive, but the winger is confident that with hard-work and luck, the rewards can come.

"Our national stadium only holds 10,000 people and the atmosphere will be tremendous," Kink explained.

"We have the opportunity to achieve something that will be talked about for years. This is a chance for football to become even stronger in Estonia.

"As a country we have done very well at basketball over the years but the chance to play football in a major championships such as Euro 2012 has made our sport's profile even higher. We do not have big stars but we are a very hard-working team that never gives up. Ireland will start as big favourites but we just have to believe in ourselves."