Stephen Kenny has said James McCarthy will have to "weigh up" the physical demands of playing club and international football as injuries continue to hamper the midfielder's Republic of Ireland career.
The 30-year-old is a free agent having played his final game for Crystal Palace against Liverpool at Anfield on the last day of the Premier League season.
However McCarthy has not joined Kenny's squad for their Spanish training camp ahead of the friendlies with Andorra and Hungary, and though Kenny insisted he remains in his plans, the manager highlighted the importance of him staying fit and finding a club where he'll play regular football.
"James just needs to get sorted out," said Kenny.
"It's difficult for him to get a run of games under his belt. James loves playing for Ireland... but the demands of playing club and international football, combining them, he's just got to weigh all that up.
"It's not a question of a lack of commitment to Ireland. It's just a question of, can he stay injury free and then combining international football with club football.
"For him to do that he needs to have a run of club games under his belt that he hasn't been able to get. He's out of contract at the moment. His priority now is to get sorted with a new club."
One man who has made it despite carrying an injury is Seamus Coleman. The captain hurt his hamstring in Everton's game against Wolves two weeks ago but such is his desperation to be involved this week, Coleman flew to Girona anyway with a view to playing some part in the Hungary clash on Tuesday week.
"I watched the game against Wolves," added Kenny. "When Adama Traore accelerated, Seamus changed direction and I saw him pull up. He had to come off then, in the 82nd minute, he tweaked his hamstring.
"That probably would have ruled every other player out of this camp.
"Seamus won't be fit for Andorra, but he's trying to get himself fit for the Hungary game and he's come over as a captain to lead, and I think that speaks volumes about him.
"The three players with the most caps - Seamus, James McClean and Shane Duffy - are here and it shows what it means to them to play for Ireland. They are never not here. They always have a huge desire to be here.
"They have a massive, massive desire and with so many young players coming in, they need to have that understanding of those players and what it means to them, that sense of Irishness. That's critical for their development and for the players to understand that."
Kenny has brought plenty of new faces to his squad and that extends to his coaching staff too. With chief scout and opposition analyst Ruaidhri Higgins gone to Derry City, and assistant Anthony Barry involved with Chelsea for the Champions League final, Kenny turned to former Shamrock Rovers man Stephen Rice to temporarily beef up his support team.
Rice is working with Crystal Palace as their Under-23 senior professional development coach.
"I haven't made any decision," Kenny said when asked if he had a replacement lined up for Higgins.
"Stephen Rice is on this trip with us. Stephen has been doing some match reports over the year for me in London, sending reports of players and things like that. He just came out for this camp, just with Anthony not being here either for the first few days.
"It's just an extra person working with the analysts. Stephen is here for this week but he's very much a Crystal Palace coach. He's just here for this camp. I'll make a decision on that in due course."
