Ireland v Senegal live updates: Heimir Hallgrímsson's side face Senegal at the Aviva
International friendly: Republic of Ireland v Senegal, Aviva Stadium, 7.45pm
Key reads:
Preview:
Hallgrímsson stresses Ireland's World Cup ambitions before valuable Senegal test
Double header is perfect opportunity for
Ireland trio of Parrott, Idah and Ferguson to hit the target
Comeback kid Robbie Brady
hopes career renaissance takes him and Ireland all the way to the World Cup
-8 minutes ago
Senegal fans Hussein Ofai and Dior Diallo make their way to the Aviva ahead of the game. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho
8 minutes ago
The good news (or bad news, depending on how you see it) is Senegal aren't in short supply of talent beyond their main man Mané.
Previewing this evening's game,
Gavin Cummiskey
gave us a quick run through of Senegalese players whose names ought to ring a bell:
'Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gueye, Everton team-mates of Jake O'Brien, were a positive presence at Goodison Park last season, while Ismaïla Sarr excelled during Crystal Palace's FA Cup success, scoring twice in the semi-final win over Aston Villa.
Add Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Pape Matar Sarr and Nicolas Jackson, who scored 10 goals as Chelsea's primary striker, to the equation and Ireland could face a chastising 90 minutes.'
Read the full preview below:
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Hallgrímsson stresses Ireland's World Cup ambitions before valuable Senegal test
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12 minutes ago
Fans heading to the Aviva this evening will be denied the privilege of seeing Senegal's Sadio Mané live in action. The former Liverpool (turned Bayern Munich, turned Al-Nassr) star asked to sit this one out.
We won't take it personally. He's also giving the England game a miss, so at least he's not just snubbing us.
17 minutes ago
Hello and welcome along to The Irish Times live blog for the
Republic of Ireland
's international friendly against Senegal.
Kick-off at the Aviva Stadium is at 7.45pm.
We'll be keeping you up to date on all action, as well as reports, ratings and reactions from our writers after the final whistle.
To get us started, here's Ireland's starting XI:
STARTING XI | Ireland v Senegal
First starts in a green shirt for
Great to see Will Smallbone return to the starting line-up with kick-off at 7.45pm 🇮🇪
— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball)
Ireland:
C Kelleher, M Doherty, R Manning, D O'Shea, W Smallbone, J Knight, A Idah, R Brady, K McAteer, J Taylor, N Collins (capt).
Subs:
M O'Leary, J Keeley, J O'Brien, T Parrot, E Ferguson, A Omobamidele, A Moran, L Scales, F Ebosele, J Honohan, J Patrick, K Phillips.
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