Ireland v Serbia: Andrew Omobamidele starts as Kenny makes four changes

Norwich defender Andrew Omobamidele was handed a first Republic of Ireland start, as manager Stephen Kenny was forced to make changes for the World Cup qualifier against Serbia.

Omobamidele, who made his senior debut as a substitute in last Wednesday night’s 2-1 defeat in Portugal, was included along with Jamie McGrath, Jeff Hendrick and Alan Browne as the injured Séamus Coleman and Aaron Connolly, as well as Jayson Molumby and Troy Parrott, made way in what appears to be a 3-4-2-1 formation.

Aaron Connolly was earlier ruled out through injury while Ronan Curtis was left out of the matchday 23.

In-form Serbia striker Aleksandar Mitrovic started despite suffering a facial injury against Luxembourg at the weekend, with head coach Dragan Stojkovic making three changes to include Milos Veljkovic, Filip Djuricic and Dusan Vlahovic.

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Republic of Ireland: Gavin Bazunu; Andrew Omobamidele, Shane Duffy, John Egan; Matt Doherty, Josh Cullen, Jeff Hendrick, James McClean; Alan Browne, Jamie McGrath; Adam Idah.

Subs: Caoimhín Kelleher, James Talbot; Ryan Manning, Conor Hourihane, Troy Parrott, Callum Robinson, Cyrus Christie, Daryl Horgan, Jayson Molumby, James Collins, Harry Arter, Liam Scales.