Stephen Kenny upbeat over Republic of Ireland’s future
A defiant Stephen Kenny is confident the Republic of Ireland will head into Euro 2024 qualifying a better team for their Nations League relegation battle.
Kenny’s men entertain Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday knowing defeat would condemn them to the drop from League B and the manager to fresh scrutiny of his reign in the wake of Saturday’s defeat in Scotland.
The 50-year-old has overhauled the squad he inherited from predecessor Mick McCarthy in April 2020 and attempted to instil a new brand of football in a team packed with young players.
But positive results have proved difficult to come by, with his 20 competitive matches to date having yielded just three wins.
However, Kenny said: “We can see the emergence of players, and that’s been critical for us as a nation, critical for us as a team.
“You can see players that are only going to get better, that are on an upward curve in their careers and they will only improve when they get into the European Championship qualifiers from March to November next year.
“In a year’s time, they will be even better – you can see that and that’s by design.