Stephen Kenny still targeting top spot in Nations League

Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny is still eyeing top spot in League B of the Nations League, with the opening four games to take place across a ten-day period in June.

"It will be a busy schedule for Kenny's squad, but one that the manager is relishing.

Speaking to RTÉ Sport at the Spar FAI Primary School 5s National Finals in the Aviva Stadium, he said: "It's very exciting what we have coming up, we've got Armenia away, Scotland at home, Ukraine at home, and then we go to Poland to play Ukraine. Four game in ten days, so it's a really intensive, brilliant period for us.

"Nathan Collins and Seamus Coleman are still playing up to this weekend, Sheffield United (in the championship play-off semi-final) are playing tonight, so we'll see how that goes. The players in League One finished last week, so they all have their individual programmes and have all been monitored.

"Preparations have been good and we'll have a week lead-in into Armenia to get ourselves ready."

In the aftermath of last December's draw for the 2022-23 Nations League. Kenny was in no doubt as to what he wants from the tournament, when saying: "Winning the group will certainly be our ambition. We're going into the competition to win matches and to do well in that tournament. Without doubt, that’s our ambition."

Five months on and the message is still the same, even though the manager did stress the competitive nature of the group.

"Our aim is still to win it and that hasn't changed," he added.

"Realistically we are third favourites behind Ukraine. We play them in Lodz in a stadium in 2019 where they won the U-20 World Cup. Subsequently they went to the Euros where they were beaten by England in the quarter-finals. They are a serious team.

"Scotland have had