Adam Idah has made a sensational return to the Ireland squad tonight but Aaron Connolly won’t be involved against Finland.
Stephen Kenny was scrambling for emergency cover after FIVE players missed the Wales game and the trip to Helsinki for Covid-related reasons.
Dara O’Shea and Jason Knight - who were in Italy for Under-21 duty - Ryan Manning and Ronan Curits have also been drafted in.
Brighton ace Connolly tonight tweeted a hand up emoji - as if to suggest he was available - but then swiftly deleted it.
The Irish camp was Covid tested again tonight and tomorrow’s flight to Finland has been delayed until Tuesday to facilitate test results.
One player tested positive late on Saturday night and four more - Callum Robinson, John Egan, Alan Brown and Callum O’Dowda - were deemed close contacts.
Norwich City striker Idah missed the Slovakia playoff along with Connolly after they were deemed close contacts of an FAI staffer who tested positive.
They sat behind him on the team flight to Bratislava after taking up the wrong seats and the individual then tested positive in the Slovakian capital the next day.
But, remarkably, that staffer has since returned a false positive test and, as of tonight, is officially out of quarantine - and so are his close contacts.
Idah is now returning to the squad but the FAI did not offer a reason as to why Connolly was not following suit.
Kenny said: “Today wasn't easy with everything that went on. But the main decisions are in the best interests of players. As a manager that's not easy but you respect it.”
But FAI chief Gary Owens appears to have ruled out sourcing a larger plane for Helsinki than the one to Bratislava that caused controversy.
“Nobody travelled on the plane (to Slovakia) who did not need to,” he said earlier today.
"There were 53 on the plane. If we followed the guidelines we’d need four planes. We would have only been able to put 16 people on the plane.”
Owens told Off The Ball: “We’re using the same plane that international teams are using. Wales are going home on the same plane we travelled on.
"It would be a huge burden on international teams if you had to comply with the two metre rule on the plane. I'm not sure if that’s financially sustainable.”
But Kenny and Owens have clashed on whether the staffer called up at late notice for Bratislava - and who initially tested positive - was ‘essential’ to the trip.
Kenny said: "He wasn't taking the free-kicks, do you know what I mean?
“Everyone is important, I treat everyone equally and I always have. I don't have a hierarchy. The point I made was he wasn't a player.
“The person in question is a great guy, he works very hard for the Association and he's a good person. But I was just making the point, he wasn't taking the free-kicks.”
But Owens countered: “The person who travelled is a requirement of UEFA, he does have a role and responsibility that is required. I’d disagree with Stephen.”
