Ukraine to heap pressure on Stephen Kenny’s Ireland

Caoimhín Kelleher and the uncapped CJ Hamilton are fascinating stories any other time besides the aftermath of one of the worst defeats in the history of Irish football.

Not that anyone is trying to pull the wool over anyone else’s eyes and Ireland manager Stephen Kenny is slated for his usual pre-match press conference at the Aviva stadium on Tuesday, but two junior members fulfilling media duties for a squad plunged into crisis by Saturday’s 1-0 defeat in Yerevan, to an Armenia side ranked 92nd by Fifa, opens the conversation to conjecture.

“Obviously we didn’t play our best,” said Kelleher. “[It is] disappointing not to give the fans who travelled over, and made the long journey over, not to give them a result and performance they deserve.”

Kelleher was understandably evasive about spending another season sitting on the Liverpool bench or seeking a loan move to a Championship club, as the injured Gavin Bazunu is almost certain to seek a third consecutive season away from Manchester City.

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“It would be really good to hopefully play a few more games,” said Kelleher, who looks certain to start both Nations League matches against Ukraine along with Scotland’s visit to Dublin on Saturday. “To play the last few has been really good for me, it’s great to get games in at international level.

“It’s a very high level and it’s really good for my development. I don’t know what’s going to happen at club level obviously but if you keep performing when you get the chance, hopefully I can stay in and keep hold of the jersey.”

Kelleher should hold off Bournemouth’s Mark Travers, despite the third choice Irish goalie primed to see plenty of Premier League action next season, but Stephen Kenny’s selection policy comes under acute scrutiny ahead of a broken Ukrainian squad, devastated by missing out on the World Cup and coping with the daily horrors in their country, playing at the Aviva stadium on Wednesday night.

“We have war raging all over the country,” said Ukraine manager Oleksandr Petrakov after defeat to Wales in Cardiff on Sunday denied them the last spot at the World Cup in Qatar. “We have children and women dying, our infrastructure is being ruined by the Russian barbarians. The Russians want to hurt us but Ukrainians are resisting and defending their land. We just want your support.”

At least 2,000 Ukrainian refugees will attend the match as guests of the FAI and an outpouring of solidarity is expected from over 30,000 Irish fans that are also due to attend.

“I really want the Ukrainian people to remember our team and all the effort,” said Petrakov following the 1-0 loss. “I’m sorry we didn’t score, but that’s sport, that’s how it goes. I do not know what to say.

“If you want to criticise, criticise me. If the team wins, it is the players. If the team loses, the only loser is the coach.”

Kenny took a different stance in Armenia, claiming pre-match that previous failures to win a Nations League game on his watch were down to the pandemic while post match he believed it was “not a game that we deserved to lose.”

When the same question was put to Kelleher, the 23 year old offered a different perspective.

“It’s not easy to play against a team that sits back behind the ball and is defensive like that but no, I don’t think we played our best and we didn’t create enough clear-cut chances to say we deserved to win.”

Changes to the Ireland line-up are expected with Séamus Coleman likely to be replaced at right wing back by Cyrus Christie or Festy Ebosele, after the Ireland captain walked gingerly off the pitch 10 minutes before full-time on Saturday, but the overriding focus surrounding Wednesday’s fixture will be the plight of the Ukrainian people.

“I don’t think it will have an effect on us,” said Kelleher. “We are just trying to play a football game, really. We have watched the last two games Ukraine have played; a really good side, really good in possession and can cause us a lot of problems.”