When Stephen Kenny spoke on last Friday's Late Late Show, the Republic of Ireland manager made a point of emphasising just how much time the squad will have together in June.

Four UEFA Nations League fixtures await the Boys in Green against Armenia, Ukraine (twice) and Scotland in the first two weeks of next month.

In between the training period before the first game on 4 June, hectic travel and the games themselves, plenty of time remains to hone the squad further and it harks back to the crucial period last summer when Kenny and his staff were able to recalibrate the side amidst friendlies with Andorra and Hungary which then fed into a more fruitful autumn.

Indeed, if one goes back to Euro 2016, that tournament was the most cohesive the Irish side looked during the Martin O'Neill era quite probably because of the rare opportunity afforded in having the players together for a significant amount of time.

With the squad for the Nations League fixtures - which will all be live on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player - set to be named imminently, former Ireland striker Stephen Elliott is excited by the possibilites an 18-day window provides for the Irish coaching staff.

"Managers have certain strengths and certain weaknesses and I think Stephen is looking forward to this," Elliott told this week's edition of the RTÉ Soccer Podcast.

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"I think he embraces having the lads for a long time because like he mentioned (on the Late Late Show) it's very unusual to have players for more than a week in international football nowadays, especially with players playing at different levels.

"But I think it's an exciting time, the fact that there are four games coming up and off the back of some good results, good performances, there's a massive improvement there and I think everybody is excited.

"Irish supporters are excited to see what the future holds and I think these games will be a tell-tale sign whether the lads continue this on and back up some top performances."

Former Dundalk goalkeeper Gary Rogers, who was coached by Kenny during his time with the Lilywhites, shared an insight into how the Ireland manager is likely to approach an extended window with the players behind the scenes.

"Stephen has a massive emphasis on that, even as Dundalk manager," said the multiple League of Ireland winner.

"Mid-season is generally a time when there's a couple of weeks off. But with Stephen, you got 2-3 days off and then into a camp.

"And it's really where he does his best work and he would have gelled that group. People would have been looking at the Andorra game that time going over to Barcelona into a camp and questioning the methodology behind it.

"But Stephen really enjoys that, getting in around the players and it's well documented his man-management style, so getting to know the characters within the group and they've gone on to build from there.

"He'll be looking at this Nations League campaign, having 18 days in camp and probably go for a slightly extended squad to cover the four fixtures."

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