Stephen Kenny: 'There are two or three sides to every story'

Despite not playing for his club Swansea City since before transfer deadline day, Michael Obafemi is firmly in the plans of Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny.

His club manager Russell Martin has not included him in his squad due to Obafemi not being "in the right frame of mind" to play since being the subject of a bid by Burnley in the final hours of deadline day.

However, he is among the 24 players named by Kenny for Ireland's upcoming UEFA Nations League games with Scotland and Armenia.

Obafemi scored two goals at home to Scotland in the last international window before missing the last game away to Ukraine through injury.

"I've spoken to Michael and like everything else there are two or three sides to every story. Certainly Michael wants to play football, he wants to play for Swansea," said Kenny.

"Obviously he has been omitted from the last couple of [Swansea] squads after the deadline-day bids and so forth. It’s not ideal, we want our players playing and coming in in good form. It’s just one of those things, I’m sure he’ll be back playing shortly.

"We’re delighted to have him in the squad because we have watched him a few times this season and he has played well, he has been at the level he finished off last season."

Euro 2016 hero Robbie Brady returns to the fold after an encouraging start to his Preston career.

"It's 18 months out of the squad for Robbie. He is one of our better players for sure, all things being equal. But things haven’t been equal for him because his body has let him down, frequently, and that has been most unfortunate," said Kenny.

"It’s just good to see him, he’s only in on absolute merit, we do admire him as a player and the talent he possesses but he’s in because his performances for Preston