John O'Shea expects Evan Ferguson will be ready to go for Ireland's highly anticipated UEFA Nations League B opener on Saturday evening - when they go head-to-head with old foes England.
The game is also the first chance to see new head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson in action, having taken on the role in July, following O’Shea’s short stint in charge.
The interim manager, who was in charge for four matches following the departure of Stephen Kenny last November and is now working as Hallgrimsson’s assistant, has been observing Ferguson in training this week and has been impressed with what he has seen from the young striker.
The Brighton forward had an operation at the end of last season and has slowly been working his way back to full fitness throughout pre-season and the opening weeks of the new campaign.
While he was an unused substitute in the Carabao Cup last week, the 19-year-old was released for international duty and is in contention for minutes against England, and Greece next Tuesday.
"Evan will be ready for Saturday," said O’Shea today.
"He has had a couple of sessions with us and will have a full one again [on Wednesday].
"He's not been back long, and he's been out for a few months, but he's young enough and he's ready. He has shown that he's nice and sharp in training.
O’Shea urged caution, however, acknowledging that they would have to manage Ferguson’s minutes over the course of the Dublin double-header, while constantly liaising with his club regarding his return.
"We're also realistic to know that he's just back in from a couple of weeks of training," said O’Shea.
"We've to get the balance right. He's been sharp in training and hopefully that continues over the next couple of days, and we make a decision later on in the week.
"When a player comes to be selected for the national team, they are available for the games. Whether it's 180 minutes or zero minutes. Whatever the manager decided," added O’Shea, when asked if there was any issue with Brighton regarding Ferguson’s call-up.
"There are always conversations going on in the background, whether it's medical teams etc, and different people. It's always a case of when a player becomes available and is selected for a team then you're in control, you have to take care of that player and be responsible for that."
"It's a brilliant game to be involved in"
Looking ahead to the contest, O’Shea believes that entertaining England at a packed Aviva Stadium will be a brilliant occasion for Irish football, and will also offer a good indication of where this Ireland team are at.
"You know from the fans and players, everyone will know, the manager will know, coming in on the bus to the stadium, the game sold out, the atmosphere and the history around the game," pondered O’Shea.
"You bring those factors together and it's a brilliant game to be involved in. Every player in the squad will want to play and you want a positive outcome from it, but ultimately it's a great test of where we are going and where, hopefully, we are going to get to."
Former Ireland midfielder Lee Carsley will take charge of England for the first time, and O’Shea expects their opponents to be a mix of their recent performances, which took them to the final of Euro 2024, with a sprinkling of the manager’s successful Under-21 tactics.
"Of course we are going to take from their recent games, because the majority of their players are going to be involved," said O’Shea.
"But it comes down to how much Lee can get into the players quickly in that first week, how much he wants to change from the imprint that Gareth (Southgate) left on the team.
"It’s getting that balance right for us. You focus on what your opposition’s strengths and weaknesses are and then you make a plan on the back of that."
But O’Shea and the management team’s main focus will be on the things that they can control, and the spate of meetings this week show the detailed approach to the game from an Irish perspective.
The players have been urged to leave their club commitments at the door once entering the Ireland camp, however, O’Shea does believe that in-form players can give a boost to the squad ahead of the game.
"It definitely helps when you have players in form and players playing at [a high] level, but I think the most important thing is that you will always have a different situation in the squad aspect at international level, good moments, bad moments for individuals.
"The manager’s message, it’s in a sense of forgetting about your club, that you come in here and we focus on what we are doing.
"You’ll have different ideas at clubs, different principles, different philosophies for attacking, defending etc. We’re going to keep it as simple and as clear as possible to get us the most effective results as quick as we can."
Will Smallbone joined O’Shea at the press conference, and the midfielder said that he is relishing the chance to go up against England and is looking forward to another great occasion at Lansdowne Road.
"Our mentality is very important, that we go into the game with belief that we'll be in the game for long periods" - Will Smallbone
The Southampton man was part of the side that pushed the Netherlands close in last year’s Aviva Stadium clash; a game which showed the potential of the team as they took the lead in an impressive first-half performance, before ultimately losing 2-1 as the Kenny era drew to a close.
Smallbone believes that the team now have to make sure that they are mentally ready for what is set to be a tough task against England, but he expects to be competitive throughout.
"We’ve only got a short amount of time to work together and get our principles and ideas right for the game, so our mentality is very important, that we go into the game with belief that we’ll be in the game for long periods, and that we’ll always have an opportunity and a chance to get something from the game," said Smallbone.
"It's a massive game; since the draw came out everyone's looking forward to the game, a good opportunity for us to put ourselves up against a team that was in the Euros final not so long ago and to see where we are at will be a good test.
"I have played in a few big games in my short career. The last few games in the Premier League have been an eye-opener for us at club level, but for myself, to come into a game like Saturday is another big game, a big test and one that I am relishing as a player.
"Like anybody, I’ll be going in to win the game. I want to put down a mark personally and for us as a nation to get a big result."
Watch Republic of Ireland v England in the UEFA Nations League on Saturday from 4pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1
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