O'Dowda a doubt as Kenny promises 'fire & ice' for France

Callum O'Dowda has emerged as a major doubt for the Republic of Ireland’s crucial Euro 2024 qualifier against France on Monday night at the Aviva Stadium.

The Cardiff City utility player has established himself at the top of the pecking order to play the left wing-back role for the imminent campaign, however, O’Dowda picked up an injury in Wednesday night’s 3-2 victory over Latvia.

O’Dowda was on the scoresheet in the friendly, bagging his first international goal in the process, but it looks now as though he is in a race against time to prove his fitness for the arrival of the World Cup finalists.

So much so, in fact, that manager Stephen Kenny has drafted Robbie Brady into the squad ahead of the visit of Didier Deschamps' side, and should O’Dowda miss out, it will likely open the door for James McClean to return to that familiar role on the left side of the defence, with an eye on attack.

The doubt over O’Dowda has added to the other defensive dilemma for the manager, as was noted during the week, with Seamus Coleman also struggling to prove his match fitness for the game.

"Callum O'Dowda has picked up a groin strain, so Robbie Brady joined the squad last night," said Kenny, speaking at the pre-match press conference.

"No, he is not ruled out," added Kenny, when asked about the fitness of Coleman, who did not feature in the midweek match with Latvia. We will have to see how today goes. We train today.

"I wouldn't like to get drawn into percentages, but certainly Seamus is a very good player and for footballing reasons, he merits his place in the team, because he has been playing very well for Everton and had an injury free run and been able to train regularly over the last number of months.

"He is the captain of course, but