Preview: Both eyes on France as Latvia come to town

It's been a while since Ireland have played an international fixture, but not so long that the below-par performances of their last two outings against Norway and Malta in November still linger in the memory bank.

Two games in four days during the World Cup pre-tournament international window, but it was largely uneventful from an Irish perspective as they lost to a late strike against Norway in Dublin before scrapeing a 1-0 victory away in Malta.

Far from inspiring, Stephen Kenny’s scouting mission to Qatar will have allowed him to draw a line under those games and start focusing on the start of the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.

France come to Dublin on Monday night, but first up, a home tie against Latvia, shoehorned into a vacant space on the first international window of the year.

A game that many felt would disrupt an extended period of time to prepare properly for the arrival of the beaten World Cup finalists, however, in the current circumstances, the friendly fixture, albeit against one of the lowest ranked sides in Europe, is set to help more than hinder the build-up for France.

The usual chestnut of Ireland squad players lacking club football minutes once again rears its head for this gathering and as a result, the 90-minute run out will prove priceless for a few key players.

But the main benefit of the game will be to help the manager see the players who are most motivated to play their way into his thoughts for the arrival of the side that Kenny calls "the most consistent team in the world".

On top of that, Kenny will use this game to determine who can complement Evan Ferguson up front, as the young teenager has spent the international dormant months moving from prospect to contender, and is now surely the number