Stephen Kenny is set to name his Republic of Ireland squad ahead of the upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers against Greece and Gibraltar.
Ireland travel to face Greece on 16 June in their second game of their Group B campaign, having narrowly lost their opening game against France in March.
Kenny's side came out the wrong side of a 1-0 result in what was a highly entertaining and exciting encounter as Ireland matched France for the majority of the game, only to get undone by a moment of quality by Benjamin Pavard following a rare, misplaced pass from midfielder Josh Cullen.
Ireland will be looking to take the performance with them on the road to Greece and attempt to get their first points on the board in what look set to be testing conditions in Athens.
The summer sunshine fixture will certainly test this Ireland squad and as a result, Kenny & Co will travel to Turkey ahead of the game for a nine-day camp of warm-weather training.
And the manager will be confident that the extended spell with his squad, coupled with last week’s mini training camp in Bristol will help shake off the post-season lethargy and allow his side to perform to their optimum in the first game of the June double-header.
Kenny will be hoping to take three points back to Dublin for the home clash against Gibraltar three days later and sign off for the season with six points on the board ahead of the business end of the campaign come September.
The manager will name his squad for the June games in Dublin on Thursday, and it will not be too dissimilar from the 26-man squad that was named for the March friendly with Latvia and the France qualifier.
Notable absentees, however, include Seamus Coleman, Andrew Omobamidele and Callum Robinson who have already been ruled out through injury for the summer international window.
There are also injury concerns over Chiedozie Ogbene, Jeff Hendrick and Alan Browne, however, it is hoped that all three will be available for selection and are expected to be named in the squad.
A recent press release from the FAI suggested that Browne and Hendrick would be available, while Ogbene was working with the fitness team throughout the Bristol camp, which suggests that he has not been written off for this vital away day.
As for last week’s camp, it remains to be seen if anyone put their hands up for inclusion for the June games, while Tom Cannon missed a chance to impress the boss as he pulled out as a result of a bout of tonsillitis.
Cannon showed some great form on loan at Preston North End this season and will be looking to break into the Everton squad ahead of the new season.
Kenny is well-stocked in the forward department, however, he will surely be keen to get a good look at the young attacking prospect sooner rather than later.
Jack Taylor is another who has been name-dropped recently and while the midfielder was not expected to show up to the Bristol camp, he shrugged off the disappointment of the play-off defeat to Sheffield Wednesday and reported for duty.
Taylor has been named in the squad before and while he has yet to get a senior cap, he impressed in the Under-21 shirt and was named 2020 player of the year.
He also picked up a player of the match award in that first-leg 4-0 win over the Owls and Kenny appeared more than impressed with his contribution last week among the senior players.
"Particularly credit to Jack Taylor, being part of that play-off, winning 4-0 after the first leg and getting man of the match to being the team that lose in the second leg and dealing with that on Thursday night and then coming in here on Monday morning in Bristol," said Kenny, following the camp.
"Jack has had a good season and I think he has a great future ahead of him."
Darragh Lenihan is surely set to return to the squad in Omobamidele’s absence, while Kenny may also opt to bring in another defender as cover for Coleman, coupled with the fact that Matt Doherty has played very limited minutes since moving from Tottenham to Atletico Madrid.
Millwall defender Danny McNamara, Sean McLoughlin of Hull City and Shamrock Rovers wide man Neil Farrugia were all involved in the training camp, and there may be room for one of them to spend what could be an invaluable amount of time with the senior squad, considering it would also include the Turkey training camp.
Right-back McNamara is perhaps top of that particular trio, being a natural full-back, and while Farrugia has proved a very effective wing-back for the Hoops. Former Cork City man McLoughlin is a central defender and would be well down the pecking order after John Egan, Dara O’Shea, Nathan Collins and Lenihan.
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