Ireland set to begin rebuilding process with victory over Gibraltar

There's a dance in Billy Brennan’s barn tonight; but Stephen Kenny and his Republic of Ireland team are not on the guest list.

While Greece and the Netherlands are battling it out for automatic qualification for Euro 2024 in Athens, the underperforming Irish are in Faro for an underwhelming encounter against group whipping boys, Gibraltar.

The road to the European Championships was always going to be long and winding when matched in a group alongside the World Cup finalists and the top-seeded Dutch, however, few would have forecast that this new-look Ireland side would sit languishing near the bottom of the group with a paltry three points from six games played.

Six wins from six for the French, who have stamped their ticket to Germany with two games remaining, while Greece could set up a grand finale in November if they can take their good form into the clash with Ronald Koeman’s side at the OPAP Arena.

A venue that has already had its say in this campaign, as it was there that Ireland’s campaign went off the rails in what was only the second group game of the qualifying phase.

That defeat in Athens left Ireland with a mountain to climb in their quest to conquer either of the top two seeds, but in truth, Kenny's team failed to even make their way out of base camp, and aside from that one home victory over tonight’s opponents, they were unable to lay a glove on France away from home and followed it up with two Dublin defeats to the Dutch and Gus Poyet’s impressive unit on Friday night.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of tonight’s away game against Gibraltar is the fact that the match has to be played at a neutral venue due to the fact that the Victoria Ground is caught between a Rock and an airport runway, and does not