Heimir Hallgrimsson is not planning to drastically experiment with his Republic of Ireland side despite Tuesday's clash against North Macedonia being a friendly.
The Boys in Green will close this March window at Aviva Stadium on a day that could have been worth so much more if they had beaten Czechia in Prague last Thursday.
However, the penalty shootout defeat at the Fortuna Arena means tomorrow night in Dublin 4 will not be a winner-takes-all battle for a place at this summer's World Cup.
There have been some enforced tweaks to the 25-man squad that flew into Czechia over the weekend.
Sammie Szmodics has been ruled out against the North Macedonians due to the after-effects of his extra-time collision in Prague, while Jack Taylor had emerged as a doubt with his wife having been ill.
Portsmouth winger Millenic Alli was drafted in for the first time on Sunday. But Ireland will now be without versatile veteran Robbie Brady for Tuesday, with Hallgrimsson confirming in his press conference that they would not take risks with the 34-year-old.
"The three guys with us in the first game; obviously injury to Sammie. I talked to him this morning and he is feeling better. He still has headaches and sickness and stuff. He will probably miss out on one or two games for Derby for protocol reasons," said the Ireland manager.
"Jack Taylor's wife is getting better so positive news from there.
"I talked to Robbie Brady this morning and he is gutted he cannot be with us. It's a slight hamstring injury or pull or tightness. It is necessary for him to be careful coming back from such a lengthy injury."
Meanwhile, Dublin-born Alli was a player that Hallgrimsson wants to get a closer look at.
The 26-year-old has taken the scenic route to his first Ireland call-up having taken his early steps through the English non-league.
He eventually landed at Exeter City in January 2024, before signing for then-Championship side Luton Town 12 months later.
Since January though he has been back in the English second tier on loan at Portsmouth and his form had got him "very close" to being included in his original for the Czechia trip, according to Hallgrimsson.
"Interesting player in many ways, a late bloomer. His route to where he is today is unique. We thought it was a good time to call him in. I don't know if we will play him but we want to take a look at him and see what kind of person he is and what kind of character he has," he said.
Bosun Lawal, meanwhile, remains uncapped but has been within the senior picture since his maiden call-up last summer.
The versatile Stoke City player was left out of the matchday 23 last Thursday having only just returned from an injury to be called up for the original squad.
However, Hallgrimsson believes the former Under-21 international should be better placed to contend for game-time against the North Macedonians.
"In numbers he was the furthest away from being 100% (for Prague)," he said.
"We've been working in cooperation with Stoke and he is more ready now than he was in Czechia. He looks really good in the training session and no set backs in his recovery from injury."
But while he is keen to cap the likes of Lawal, the manager ruled out making wholesale changes to the starting team for the sake of experimentation.
"No we don't need to," he said, pointing out that under FIFA rules, eight subs can be made in friendlies.
"The most important thing tomorrow is to have a good performance. Normally the side effect of that is a win.
"A good performance is a key tomorrow. When Dara (O'Shea) was speaking before, it was a sentence he mentioned, 'We win (or) we learn’ so we never lose.
"That sentence has been stuck in my head since he said it. That’s the way we continue, grow from the last game and improve the bits we want to improve every game we play.
"Yes it’s a possibility to give players a chance, a lot of them have been dying to come on the pitch and show what they can do.
"We’ve been pretty consistent in our team selection so it’s an opportunity but I wouldn’t expect a lot of changes. I want these players to continue to perform and do well and again just growing, all the time growing.
"The thing is, in friendlies the new rules from FIFA, we can have eight substitutions in friendlies in three slots so it’s a possibility to make changes. No problem in that sense. But do we want it? First and foremost we would want to do a good performance."
Watch Republic of Ireland v North Macedonia on Tuesday from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app
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