Graham Gartland: Fan patience key for Latvia game amid France focus

If the Republic of Ireland's friendly against Latvia on Wednesday ends up with an underwhelming performance, fans of the Boys in Green should factor in that manager Stephen Kenny will be testing out tactics with an eye towards next Monday's France match according to former Dundee United, Drogheda and Shamrock Rovers defender Graham Gartland.

When the fixture schedule was finally settled last October, 27 March and a French visit to the Aviva Stadium was rubber-stamped as Ireland's first outing of the Euro 2024 qualifiers.

While World Cup runners-up France have the Netherlands this Friday before they fly to Dublin for Monday's fixture, Ireland were afforded some breathing room part of which has been filled with Wednesday's friendly against Latvia to aid preparation.

And given that Ireland are likely to have less of the ball against the French, Wednesday could see a more counter-attacking approach used at times against Latvia despite the fact that the Boys in Green will be clear favourites to win emphatically.

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"I think you'll probably use the first 60 minutes to work on stuff that you're going to roll into the France game," Gartland told this week's RTÉ Soccer Podcast which also features former Ireland striker Stephen Elliott and French football journalist Philippe Auclair.

"The France game is more important than the Latvia game obviously so you have to use that to see can we implement things that we can then bring into the France game.

"So if it is working on counter-attacks or