Injuries may have forced his hand to an extent, but the sight of fresh attacking options in Martin O'Neill's provisional squad for the looming World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Wales at least offers a glimpse of the direction this crop could take.
Scott Hogan only declared for the country of his grandparents' birth six weeks ago, but the Aston Villa man - harp-embossed passport safely in the drawer - comes into the panel with a decent chance of featuring in either Dublin or Cardiff. At 25, he's no fresh-faced rookie.
The London-born Aiden O'Brien has played for his country at U17, U19 and U21 level so although the 23-year-old's inclusion was something of a surprise, given the injuries O'Neill has been dealt, his step-up to the senior fold is not completely out of the blue.
Sean Maguire has yet to get the full cap he craves, but he's done his hopes no harm since moving from Cork City to Preston North End last July and taking to life in the Championship impressively smoothly.
He's been involved in a couple of camps now, and his strong displays at Deepdale have heightened his profile and his reputation.
It's the Kilkenny man and Hogan who'd appear to at the front of the queue then, and although O'Neill remained coy on whether any of the strikers would be thrown into the fray, he didn't completely rule it out either.
Pushed on who was better equipped to make that step up, he was also guarded, but he did stress his opinion that Hogan has improved considerably since making his reported £15m move to Villa Park from Brentford last January.
"It's a big ask, asking them to come in for such an important match, but it might be a case of wanting them to do that," he said. "These are tough games for them to go into but we’ve lost a couple of players."
"It's a difficult one, hard to say at this minute," he added when asked which player looked better equipped to make the step up.
"Maguire is playing, he's getting games. His confidence is high. If there’s a natural goalscorer in Hogan and Maguire then that certainly would be nice for the future of the Republic of Ireland.
"I've watched (Hogan) a number of times in games where he's started, and games where he's come on a sub.
"There's definitely parts of his game I think he knows he can improve on.
"Now that he feels stronger - and he certainly looks stronger, he's strengthened up certainly since I first started watching him."
"Coming from Brentford, a club where he's very well thought of, it's one of those where you're a regular every single week.
"You go into a club where the expectation is very high and competition is great. That's something he has to adjust to."
Hogan's Championship goals in the first half of last season with the Bees turned many heads and Villa were not the only club keen to secure his services.
However he's struggled to maintain that hot streak at the Birmingham club.
Though hampered by a string of niggly injuries in the last nine months, four goals, one in the league and three in the League Cup, has been a disappointing return.
O'Neill said any teething problems are understandable,
"I didn't give up (hope that he would declare). I spoke to his agent in the first place. He was looking to recover from the injuries that he had.
"He's needed time to settle in. Villa are a massive club. He might have need time to settle in, it might be a change of system.
"He was looking to recover from the injury he had (the striker has been hampered by a string of niggly setbacks since joining last January)... and when you look at his history of injuries, that's really understandable.
"He's come back flying. Now that he feels stronger - and he certainly looks stronger, he's strengthened up certainly since I first started watching him - he's improved."
Jon Walters will play no part in the defining run-in.
His loss is huge; O'Neill has repeatedly stressed the importance of the Burnley man to this group, and is a symbol of the tenacity and commitment that has helped Ireland come through mediocre performances to get results.
Shane Long, Daryl Murphy, David McGoldrick certainly have experience in their favour, and the first two will almost certainly start against Moldova.
But the scene is set for someone to do what Liverpool starlet Ben Woodburn has done for the Welsh; to seize their moment, invigorate those around them with fresh energy and no fear.
Ireland need an instant saviour and a hope for the future. The next fortnight could deliver both.
