Possible Jack Grealish call-up set to dominate Martin O’Neill squad announcement

Martin O’Neill will be in Dublin on Tuesday to name what is expected to be an extended initial squad for next month’s games against England and Scotland.

It is understood that the Ireland manager will bring the players in for June 1st, with the squad set to take on Northern Ireland in a training game three days later at the Aviva stadium.

To judge by previous squad announcements, O’Neill is likely to name more than 30 players with that number gradually coming down over the next few weeks.

The manager is also expected to provide some detail on a Mark Farren fundraiser planned for May 23rd at the Brandywell where he and Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill are set to manage teams made up of a mix of locally based and international players, especially those like James McClean, David Forde and Paddy McCourt, who have personal links to Farren and Derry City.

There will be a great deal of attention, meanwhile, on whether O'Neill names Jack Grealish in his squad but there has been nothing from the player, his father or anyone on the FAI side of things to suggest that there has been any change to the teenager's suggestion that he would make himself available for international duty again in September.

Darron Gibson (broken bone in foot) and Ciaran Clark (knee) are both major doubts for the squad with both of their club managers having already suggested that they think their seasons are over.

Robbie Keane (groin) is among the players who have missed games recently for their clubs but who would be expected to be fine in plenty of time for the Ireland games. Stephen Ward also came on at the weekend for Burnley while Kevin Doyle should have some competitive action under his belt with new side Colorado Rapids while McClean has also been considering a couple of MLS offers.