Tuesday night's friendly against North Macedonia might have been a "strange" one for the Republic of Ireland but for John O'Shea the main positive was the opportunity to blood new senior internationals.
The 0-0 draw at Aviva Stadium did little to quell the frustrations of a window which will ultimately be remembered for the cruel way in which the Boys in Green's World Cup dream ended in Prague last Thursday.
But manager Heimir Hallgrimsson was able to hand first caps to substitutes Bosun Lawal and James Abankwah as well as a home debut to newcomer Harvey Vale against the North Macedonians.
All three came on just after the hour mark, although Abankwah's night was curtailed after being forced off with an injury following a collision barely 20 minutes into the Longford man's debut.
With the road towards Euro 2028 essentially starting in earnest now, Hallgrimsson's assistant O'Shea was pleased to see more options emerging to push for places in the team.
"I think it's the emergence of a couple of important players for the future. That would be a key part," said the former Ireland and Manchester United defender.
"It's important to get some freshenss into the team and the squad as well. Shame for James Abankwah but lots of positives too with Bosun and Harvey and real excitement to come from those players hopefully."
Lawal's potential was particularly exciting for O'Shea based on the versatile Stoke City man's output at Lansdowne Road.
The 22-year-old can play at centre-back and has even been used as a full-back by his club this season.
However, it's at the base of midfield where he came on for his Irish senior debut and it appears to be the role which he will primarily play going forward at international level.
"You know his technique, his control, passing range and everything about him in terms of that modern player," O'Shea told RTÉ Sport.
"The personality he's got to take the ball in tight spaces, uses technique to get away from it and obviously have that personality to lead the team.
St Kevin's FC graduate Bosun Lawal spoke to @Corktod after making his Republic of Ireland debut against North Macedonia at Aviva Stadium last night #RTEsoccer pic.twitter.com/B1KGelVJy5
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) April 1, 2026
"But there's a lot to develop on it as well. But I think just fingers crossed he gets a run of luck with his fitness now and I think that's something that can really develop.
"That's what the boss has always spoken about, getting the chance to have these younger players come in and push when the time is right and it's not just Bosun.
"There are other players obviously injured at the minute as well that can come in and make big impacts in the squad.
"And I've always said it, we have a fully fit, competitive squad. It's a tough challenge for the boss to pick it."
Hallgrimsson chimed in to highlight how Lawal, Vale and Abankwah can contribute at set-pieces, an area where the management team feel the team can prosper.
"Talking about set-pieces, Bosun, James, and Harvey as a taker, all of them are really good at that area for example, apart from everything else," said the Ireland boss.
O'Shea also praised the supporters for the way in which they lifted the squad at large since the World Cup play-off semi-final loss to Czechia. Officially a crowd of 39,560 were in Aviva Stadium on Tuesday.
"The energy from the local people around the hotel and then obviously coming into the stadium tonight, I think the boys soon realised that what we've been asking of them in particular to kind of... it's an international game, you're representing your country but the response that the people gave the players was enough to make sure that the application was special," he said.
As for his own future, O'Shea reiterated his pre-Prague stance that he expects to follow Hallgrimsson in extending his own contract in the coming weeks and remain within the set-up until Euro 2028.
"It's a conversation to have now in the next couple of days but hopefully it can get sorted soon," he said.
