New faces in the squad as Ireland boss says road to World Cup 2026 begins with June friendlies
HEIMIR HALLGRIMSSON SAYS the road to World Cup qualification begins with the Republic of Ireland's June friendlies against Senegal and Luxembourg.
The Boys in Green boss explained the thinking behind leaving most of the Championship players out of his squad for next month's games, declaring they will need a summer off now as they will be busy on international duty in USA, Canada and Mexico in a year's time.
John Patrick Finn has received his first senior call-up and is one of four new faces.
The Reims star, 21, is joined by fellow midfielder Killian Phillips, who is currently on loan from Crystal Palace at St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership.
Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Josh Keeley is also on loan at League One promotion hopefuls Leyton Orient and has been drafted in due to an injury to Gavin Bazunu.
There will also be League of Ireland representation with Shamrock Rovers' Josh Honohan praised by Hallgrimsson for his 'versatility', adding: 'We want to see him in our environment with these players which is mostly Premier League players. Normally good players can step up when they are with better players.'
Josh Cullen, Finn Azaz and Mikey Johnstone are the three standout absentees from the Championship, along with goalkeeper Mark Travers.
Hallgrimsson says Robbie Brady was happy to be included as there is not sufficient depth at left back while Sammie Szmodics has returned to training after ankle surgery and is unlikely to feature.
Troy Parrott has been out of action with a groin issue but is 'really optimistic' of being involved an Festy Ebosele is 'coming back slowly' and will be 'fit and flying' for June.
Captain Seamus Coleman returns and, when asked about whether he was in the plans for the World Cup qualifiers, Hallgrimsson was adamant that was the case.
'Yes, otherwise we wouldn't be selecting him,' the Ireland boss said, expanding further on his forward planning for the World Cup qualifying campaign to come from September.
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'It's our last preparation before the World Cup starts in September. You knew we planned to have a camp and play after the Championship in May, that kind of coloured a little bit our squad that you have seen,' Hallgrimsson said.
'This June window has been tough or tricky for Ireland in the past. And I would guess the reason after a long season, three games a week in the Championship and the players are tired both physically and mentally and switch off and it is tough to switch back on.
'What we want now most of all is that these players take a good off-season and come in flying in pre-season and in September and we will benefit from that rest. There have been a lot of talks about the load on players and we've kind of tried to adjust to that fact, to limit the number of Championship players in this squad.
'Maybe in relation to that, we talked to them, all of the Championship players want to come, there was no question of that. I know some will be unhappy not to be in the squad but that is the reason we did for all the Championship players who finished on the third of May.
'The only exception is Robbie Brady, not (just) because he is a good player and leader in the squad but that he is playing left-back where we don't have a lot of players so we asked him to come in and he was more than happy to do that.
'Another factor as well is we expect to have no holiday next summer. We expect to go straight from the season into the World Cup in the US. So no holiday next season, so we can at least give them some extra holiday this season.'
Republic of Ireland Squad:
Goalkeepers:
Caoimhín Kelleher (Liverpool), Max O'Leary (Bristol City), Josh Keeley (Leyton Orient, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur)
Defenders:
Seamus Coleman (Everton), Matt Doherty (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Nathan Collins (Brentford), Dara O'Shea (Ipswich Town), Jake O'Brien (Everton), Andrew Omobamidele (Strasbourg, on loan from Nottingham Forest), Liam Scales (Celtic), Robbie Brady (Preston North End)
Midfielders:
Jason Knight (Bristol City), Killian Phillips (St. Mirren, on loan from Crystal Palace), Will Smallbone (Southampton), Jack Taylor (Ipswich Town), John Joe Patrick Finn (Stade De Reims)
Forwards:
Troy Parrott (AZ Alkmaar), Evan Ferguson (West Ham United, on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion), Adam Idah (Celtic), Sammie Szmodics (Ipswich Town), Kasey McAteer (Leicester City), Festy Ebosele (Istanbul Basaksehir), Ryan Manning (Southampton)
Written by David Sneyd and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won't find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women's sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe
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