Jayson Molumby will miss the Republic of Ireland's clash with Portugal on Thursday night after tweaking his hamstring, while Andrew Omobamidele is an injury doubt.
Stephen Kenny revealed that Omobamidele is carrying an Achilles injury from Norwich City’s win over Brentford on Saturday.
The Boys in Green trained at Aviva Stadium on Wednesday night but Omobamidele took no part and Kenny said: “He got a kick in the Achilles at the weekend and has been sore.
“I can’t say I’m optimistic, but we’ll just have to wait and see.” Kenny may hand Burnley’s Nathan Collins a second cap and first Ireland start in a like-for-like replacement at centre-back.
Skipper Seamus Coleman could also be deployed on the right side of a back three. But the Everton ace wasn’t put up for the pre-match press conference suggesting he could be held in reserve for Sunday’s game in Luxembourg.
That game is arguably more important to Kenny and his pursuit of a new contract and he said last week that it was unlikely Coleman could start in both matches.
Here are the probable teams:
REP OF IRELAND (3-4-2-1): Bazunu; Collins, Duffy, Egan; Doherty, Cullen, Hendrick, Stevens; McGrath; Robinson; Idah
PORTUGAL (4-2-3-1): Patricio; Cancelo, Pepe, Dias, Dalot; Danilo, Moutinho; Jota, Fernandes, Joao Felix; Ronaldo
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