Stephen Kenny remains in the dark about his future in the role as manager of the national team ahead of what might be his final games in charge.
And with the route to the Euro play-offs all-but blocked off, the manager's contract will essentially run out by the end of this November window.
Speaking at the press conference, following the announcement of the squad for the upcoming double header, Kenny admitted that he is no clearer on his future in what may well be the final few weeks of his three-year tenure as Ireland manager.
The FAI have previously stated that there would be an overall appraisal of the current situation with the national side upon the culmination of the qualifying campaign, and Kenny does not appear to have a clear indication as to whether his future lies with the Republic of Ireland.
"It may well be the case," said Kenny, when asked whether he feels that the New Zealand match will be his final game in charge of the team.
"I can’t be certain on any of these things, but regardless we will be professional in our approach. We’ll have to see, those decisions are out of my control."
But the manager is happy to let his track record decide on whether the FAI deem him suitable to stay on in the role and stated that he was not about to beg for a new contract.
"I am not making a plea," said Kenny, when asked whether he wants to stay on in the job. "I am certainly not doing that.
"My contract is up after the New Zealand game, I am very privileged to manage Ireland, it’s a transitional phase but you can see the squad now, a record number of players have come through…
"What happens next I have no control over, so really we are focusing on having a good week, and making sure we are ready for Holland and the last game against New Zealand."
Naturally Kenny’s future has been constantly speculated upon, while media reports this week have linked the manager to a job in English football with Lincoln.
"You can be linked to any job," said Kenny, when responding to a question about the Lincoln connections.
"The only thing that I am concerned about is managing Ireland. That is the biggest job. No club job could compare to managing your country.
"Managing your country is the biggest honour that could be bestowed upon you and that is something that I want to do.
"Obviously, no decision is made in that regard, whatever will be will be, I’m just focusing on the games and making sure we are well prepared."
And looking ahead to the game, Kenny admitted that the away day against the Dutch has come too quickly for captain Seamus Coleman, who is just returning from a long-term injury, while he added that in-form Sammie Szmodics was not considered due to ongoing personal reasons.
"I’m in regular contact with Seamus and I spoke to him again this morning," said Kenny. "We’d love to have him here, but he has been out for seven and a half months. He played 65 [minutes] against Mansfield in the EFL, he has a behind closed doors game at Everton later this week to help him again to get progress and match fitness.
"The Holland game is probably a bridge too far to jump into an international game from there.
"I didn’t consider Sammie Szmodics for selection," added Kenny. "He obviously had to leave the camp on the second day in the last camp because of personal reasons and those personal reasons haven’t changed, he just can’t be away for 10 days so he couldn’t be considered."
Szmodics’ club-mate, Andy Moran, is another who is on the periphery of the squad and while the manager acknowledged his recent good form, he said that he would be better served with the Under-21s, while not ruling out a late call up for the New Zealand encounter.
"Andy has been injured for Blackburn, he has been out for a few weeks," said Kenny. "He came back and played well.
"We’re not going to play him against Holland, so Jim [Crawford] needs him, it’s a part of his development the U21 game against Norway.
"We’ll review it for the New Zealand game and see where we are, because we regard Andy very highly and he played well last Sunday against Norwich."
Watch the FAI Cup final, Bohemians v St Patrick's Athletic, on Sunday from 2pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to live radio commentary on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1.
