IN SEVEN DAYS, Ireland manager Martin O’Neill will send his team out to play Scotland in their Euro 2016 qualifier at a sold-out Celtic Park.
O’Neill named a 36-man squad last week but plans to trim it down before the staff and players meet up in Dublin on Monday.
On the injury front, Wes Hoolahan will not be involved due to an ankle problem while fellow midfielder Glenn Whelan is a major doubt after fracturing his leg.
Meanwhile, Everton duo Seamus Coleman and James McCarthy are back in the fold after missing out in the 1-1 draw with Germany.
While captain Robbie Keane has an MLS play-off second leg to play for LA Galaxy on Sunday, the rest of the Irish players are due to be in action for their clubs in the Premier League and the Championship over the weekend.
And ahead of one of the biggest games of Group D so far, O’Neill will be keeping his fingers crossed that they come through their club games unscathed.
Goalkeepers
Current number one David Forde is almost certain to remain between the posts for the trip to Glasgow but before that the Millwall goalkeeper will be involved in their Championship game against Brentford on Saturday. Forde, who has conceded 21 goals in 16 league matches for the Lions, is nominated for Championship Player of the Month after enjoying an excellent October in which he kept three clean sheets.
Keiren Westwood has had a difficult couple of years but appears to have got his career back on track at Sheffield Wednesday. After being signed by Stuart Gray from Sunderland in the summer, the former Coventry stopper grabbed the opportunity by dislodging Chris Kirkland as the Owls’ first choice keeper with a number of solid performances.
Following a red card against Bolton and an 8-0 drubbing by Bournemouth in his next game, Birmingham’s Darren Randolph has recovered well to help his side claim a 0-0 draw (where he was man-of-the-match) and 2-1 win with Wolves and Watford respectively.
Shay Given (Aston Villa) and Rob Elliot (Newcastle United) have had to be content playing second fiddle at their clubs once again this season.
Defenders
Everton full-back Seamus Coleman should be back after a brief injury spell but sat out last night’s Europa League win over Lille with a cut on his Achilles. It is unclear whether he will be okay for Sunday’s trip to Sunderland but the Killybegs man should slot back into Ireland’s defence after David Meyler deputised against the Germans. Coleman will come up against Black Cats skipper John O’Shea at the Stadium of Light, who is in line to earn cap 101 for Ireland next Friday night.
The man in the driving seat to partner O’Shea once again at the heart of the defence against the Scots, Marc Wilson, has been starting alongside Ryan Shawcross at Stoke of late with Robert Huth losing out.
Burnley’s Stephen Ward has broken into the Premier League’s bottom side and started their last two matches, which unfortunately both ended in defeat.
Damien Delaney hasn’t featured for Crystal Palace since his sending off in the 2-1 loss to Chelsea last month while Paul McShane started for Hull for the first time since August against Southampton last Saturday.
Fellow Tigers player Brian Lenihan is still waiting to be called up to Steve Bruce’s senior team but has joined Blackpool on a one-month loan and has also been named in the Ireland U21s squad to face the US and Russia in friendlies in Marbella this month.
Ciaran Clark has been resigned to three Premier League starts for Aston Villa this term (all three have ended in defeat) as he finds himself behind Ron Vlaar and Philippe Senderos.
Reading defender Alex Pearce is a regular in Nigel Adkins’ backline while team-mate Stephen Kelly made his first appearance for the Royals on Tuesday in their 3-0 victory over Rotherham — a game in which Ireland striker Simon Cox scored twice.
Elsewhere in the Championship, Richard Keogh‘s Derby County have suffered three consecutive league defeats to drop into fourth place and the skipper has called on the team to come back stronger. Wolves at home is next up for the Rams.
At Blackburn, Shane Duffy has cemented his place in the Rovers team which is pushing for a play-off spot and the former Everton man scored his first goal for the club in Tuesday’s 2-2 draw with Millwall.
Midfielders
James McCarthy put in a man-of-the-match performance in the Everton midfield as they continued their excellent European form by earning three points against Lille last night. The Scottish-born player is likely to get a frosty reception along with club mate Aiden McGeady at Celtic Park but his return to fitness is a huge boost for Martin O’Neill.
McGeady was also a stand-out player for the Toffees at Goodison Park and earned an assist for Phil Jagielka’s goal with a decent delivery from a corner. Darron Gibson was the third Irish player to play in that game after coming on for Gareth Barry on 67 minutes but looked a little rusty during the cameo.
Despite making in-roads at international level with a first competitive start for Ireland against Georgia before following it up with a starring role in the draw with Germany, Stephen Quinn‘s place in the Hull team hasn’t been assured and he was most recently used as a late substitute.
Team-mate Robbie Brady finds himself in a similar situation but encouragingly has started in the last two games. The arrival of Mohamed Diame to Hull has meant that David Meyler‘s game time has been limited so far this season, however.
He may have fractured his leg but Martin O’Neill is giving Glenn Whelan every chance to prove his fitness for the trip to Parkhead. That said, it does appear unlikely that the Stoke midfielder will be able to recover in time.
Jeff Hendrick continues to steadily develop at Derby County. The 22-year-old has three goals to his name for at club level this country and is highly-regarded by O’Neill and assistant Roy Keane.
Anthony Pilkington has found a new lease of life at Cardiff City since joining from Norwich City in the summer but was missing for Tuesday’s 3-0 loss to Bolton Wanderers through illness.
Wigan Athletic winger James McClean has been in and out of the side during the opening months of the season but came off the bench to score twice in a 2-1 win over Derby a fortnight ago and start the midweek meeting with Brighton.
Paul Green, meanwhile, is in the Rotherham United line-up week-in, week-out since joining on a free in the summer.
Forwards
Ireland captain Robbie Keane remains on course to win the MLS MVP award for the first time with 19 goals and 14 assists from 29 appearances for LA Galaxy in 2014. Galaxy take on Real Salt Lake in their play-off second leg on Sunday with the tie poised at 0-0.
Shane Long scored his first goal for Southampton in last week’s Capital One Cup win over Stoke City but was then taken off after 62 minutes against former club Hull City last weekend.
Jon Walters remains an old reliable for Stoke City manager Mark Hughes due to his excellent work rate and physical presence. He’s got three goals for the Potters so far.
Celtic striker Anthony Stokes, who has four goals, didn’t play in their 1-1 draw away to Astra Giurgiu in midweek after being told he was too ill to travel to Romania with the squad.
Of the Championship trio Daryl Murphy, Conor Sammon (both Ipswich Town) and Simon Cox (Reading), Murphy has fared best with a return of ten goals — three more than Cox and nine better than Sammon.
Finally, Kevin Doyle‘s move to Crystal Palace hasn’t worked out as well as he would have hoped. His last involvement in the Eagles team was during a Capital One Cup game back in September. The 31-year-old has yet to score for the club.
