THERE ARE FEW surprises in Martin O’Neill’s provisional 39-man squad to face Bosnia-Herzegovina in the upcoming Euro 2016 play-off matches.
John O’Shea and Jon Walters are named despite being suspended for the first leg between the two sides, while the uncapped players Adam Rooney, Alan Judge and Eunan O’Kane are included, as they were in the initial squad for the Germany and Poland games.
Stephen Quinn misses out through injury, though Southampton striker Shane Long is included despite being a doubt for the games.
The squad will be finalised a week prior to the games on 9 November.
Speaking at today’s press conference, O’Neill said: “After finishing third in a difficult qualifying group, we enter into the play-offs against a very good team in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Our fate is in our own hands and we will be doing all that we can to qualify for next summer’s finals.
“We will play the second leg at the Aviva Stadium and that is a big plus for us because the Irish supporters were fantastic in our last game there against Germany and we know that there will be a similar atmosphere for this play-off.”
Ireland travel to face Bosnia on 13 November before the return leg at the Aviva Stadium on 16 November.
Ireland squad to face Bosnia:
David Forde (Millwall)
Shay Given (Stoke City)
Keiren Westwood (Sheffield Wednesday)
Darren Randolph (West Ham United)
Rob Elliot (Newcastle United)
Richard Keogh (Derby County)
Marc Wilson (Stoke City)
Seamus Coleman (Everton)
Cyrus Christie (Derby County)
John O’Shea (Sunderland)
Alex Pearce (Derby County)
Shane Duffy (Blackburn Rovers)
Ciaran Clark (Aston Villa)
Paul McShane (Reading)
Stephen Ward (Burnley)
Greg Cunningham (Preston North End)
Robbie Brady (Norwich City)
James McCarthy (Everton)
Jeff Hendrick (Derby County)
Darron Gibson (Everton)
Harry Arter (Bournemouth)
Eunan O’Kane (Bournemouth)
Glenn Whelan (Stoke City)
Paul Green (Rotherham United)
Aiden McGeady (Everton)
James McClean (West Bromwich Albion)
Alan Judge (Brentford)
Anthony Pilkington (Cardiff City)
David Meyler (Hull City)
Jonathan Walters (Stoke City)
Wes Hoolahan (Norwich City)
Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy)
Shane Long (Southampton)
Daryl Murphy (Ipswich Town)
Kevin Doyle (Colorado Rapids)
Anthony Stokes (Celtic FC)
David McGoldrick (Ipswich Town)
Adam Rooney (Aberdeen)
Simon Cox (Bristol City)
