Ireland look to end campaign on a high in Dublin after gutsy Glasgow showing

Two years in, 26 games later, Stephen Kenny could finally afford to be ruthless in his selection as Ireland travelled to play Scotland at Hampden Park on Saturday night.

Covid chaos wreaked havoc in the early days of the current era, while much time and many matches were needed to integrate the guts of a brand-new squad, establish an evolving philosophy while instilling belief and trust in his players.

Ireland pay penalty in second half as Scotland march on

As the pandemic subsided, Kenny's concerns continued with unavoidable injuries as well as the age-old Ireland issue of players failing to clock up enough minutes on the pitch at club level.

The most recent window brought it all into focus with many players sitting idle for weeks ahead of the June series of games, and it is probably the main reason that Ireland were shocked in Armenia before losing back-to-back games with the Dublin defeat to Ukraine.

Arriving into the current international break, all appeared to have changed; changed utterly. Was a terrible beauty about to be born?

A full week to prepare for the Glasgow away day, confidence racing through the veins of the assembled pack at their Dublin headquarters, and most importantly, the majority of the squad playing regular club football back across the Irish Sea.

Selection was indeed the main topic of conversation throughout the daily media briefings, with certain scenarios leaving the manager in a quandary when it came to fine-tuning his starting eleven.

Seamus Coleman and Matt Doherty were two of just a few who were lacking game-time, however, they were both essentially vying for the same right wing-back position.

Shane Duffy, likewise, has yet to get going at Fulham, however, following his performance against Scotland