Martin O’Neill to name squad three days before Euro 2016 deadline

Martin O'Neill says he intends to name his squad for the European Championships on the day after the friendly match against the Netherlands on May 27th. The 23 players who make the cut will then travel to Cork where it is now intended that the team will play a full international at Turner's Cross on Tuesday the 31st.

The FAI hopes to be able to confirm the opponents for that game, the first full international to be played by the team in the city since a friendly against Spain in 1985 and only the third ever – the first was a 2-2 draw with Hungary back in March 1939 – on Thursday with Martin O’Neill suggesting that arrangements for the game are still being finalised.

The schedule means that the manager will use the Dutch game to finalise his selection plans and he has opted to name the travelling party three days before the Uefa deadline so as to work more selectively with the group during the week-long stay at Fota Island which begins with a training session on the day before the friendly.

In the meantime, O'Neill expressed the hope that Shane Duffy will be amongst the players to get some game time in the matches against Switzerland and Slovakia.

It is six years since the now Blackburn Rovers defender was first called up to the senior and while his initial involvement was marred by a serious training ground mishap that required emergency surgery to repair damage to his liver, he has struggled to make the breakthrough in the period since.

Part of his problem stemmed from his inability to establish himself in the first team at Everton but he has been playing regularly and well for Rovers of late and O’Neill believes that the 24-year-old from Derry deserves the opportunity to add to the solitary cap he senior he earned against Costa Rica in the United States nearly two years ago.

“I’m hoping that Shane will get onto the field of play here. He’s definitely one that you would like to think is one for the future as some of the older players drop off . . . I would like to get him onto the field in some of these games.

“He’s playing and scored a really decent goal, not that that’s his main concern. I’ve seen him a number of times, pretty much in close succession and I’ve known him for quite a while, he was with us on the American trip and I think he’s improved since then. There are parts of the game that definitely need honing, there’s no doubt about that but we’ll see.”

Hamstring injury

Robbie Keane sat Wednesday's training session out but O'Neill says he will be available for Friday's game and the 35-year-old striker seems more likely to be involved after Jon Walters followed Harry Arter and Jeff Hendrick out of the squad due to a hamstring injury although Walters may return for the Slovakia game.

It would be the Keane’s 144th cap and official status for the game in Cork would mean that if he managed to start or get on in every game from now up until the end of the group stages at the European Championship there is the possibility that he could finish the tournament on 150.

Robbie Brady, meanwhile, was back training and is in contention to earn his 21st cap while Anthony Pilkington sat out the session due to his generally restricted training regime and is considered to be available.

Asked about events in Brussels and the suggestion that games might have to be played behind closed doors in certain circumstances in France – something Uefa and the French organisers have sent out conflicting messages about – O’Neill said that he, the players and the FAI would do whatever was required of them.

“If someone wants to make an attack as happened yesterday, it’s very, very difficult to deal with that, but overall the security that we’re being provided with is really excellent and like everything else, I’d comply with anything that is happening,” he said.

“There’s talk about matches being played behind closed doors, but the safety of people is of paramount importance and anything that is agreed upon, we will fall in line.”

O’Neill said that he had never been involved, either as a player or a manager with a competitive game played in such circumstances but, he insisted: “If that is an alternative and it’s the only alternative, then if we are going to have the competition, we may have to comply with it.

“It’s not ideal and of course people will have at this stage paid a lot of money to get tickets sorted out, but if it comes to that, then obviously it’s going to be very difficult to deal with. But if that’s the only solution, then we may have to go with it.”

Belgium’s friendly against Portugal next Tuesday has been moved from Brussels to Leiria.