Ireland player of the year David McGoldrick will be back in the squad for tomorrow's game against Finland, however, the Sheffield United striker is unlikely to start the UEFA Nations League encounter.
McGoldrick missed the trip to Bulgaria on Thursday due to a foot injury and joined up with the team on Friday, and the Blades frontman trained with the squad at FAI headquarters in Abbotstown on Saturday.
The manager was full of praise for his new arrival, who will add real experience to the squad with next month’s play-off clash with Slovakia in mind.
"It is great to get him back in the squad as he has had a good season with Sheffield United and he leads the line brilliantly," said Kenny, speaking at the pre-match press conference.
"The foot injury was problematic for him at the end of last season and it has hampered all his pre-season, so he has only really had a week’s training in pre-season.
"So he comes into the squad but most likely will not start, as it is too soon for him."
The manager has a full squad to choose from ahead of the Aviva Stadium encounter as the squad returned to Dublin on Friday following Thursday night’s 1-1 draw with Bulgaria in Sofia with no injury concerns.
However, the manager is expected to make some changes to the starting XI as he said that some of the players who played in Sofia had not played in six months.
The manager has spoken about the importance of continuity in his side but also said that his side may need an injection of energy for the clash with Finland.
"Ideally you would be thinking [of continuity] but some of the players are in pre-season and some played their first match in six months, so there is a balance there to try to get right.
"You want the back four to be consistent and have a solidity in the back four, but you need that injection of energy in the team as well," said the manager.
Kenny said it was a "marginal" decision to leave "brilliant" skipper Seamus Coleman out in Sofia.
He said: "It's just one of those situations, that we have two of the better right-backs in the Premier League."
Follow Republic of Ireland v Finland (KO 5pm) via our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app, or listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1's Sunday Sport
