'Why change?' - Nathan Collins leading by example, the only way he knows how

Heimir Hallgrimsson has been attempting to build confidence in the Ireland team since taking over during the summer, and it appears that he has anointed a captain in his own image to keep things positive on the pitch.

Long-term skipper Seamus Coleman is once again ruled out through injury, which means that the armband will pass to Nathan Collins for the games against Finland and England.

Collins has played every minute of Hallgrimsson's short tenure and will marshal the centre of defence for this week’s double-header, most likely alongside Liam Scales, who has impressed after failing to see any action in the September fixtures.

The centre-half is one of the few Premier League starters in the Ireland squad, so it is no surprise that the manager opted for one of the higher profile players to lead on the pitch, while trying to build a consistent spine of core players to take into the World Cup campaign.

The towering defender has already amassed 24 caps for the national side, although there has been more lows than highs for the 23-year-old, who previously admitted that he was sick of losing games in an Ireland shirt.

Likewise, Collins has had some individual moments throughout his short international career, having scored two goals, a fine individual effort against Ukraine in Poland as well as scoring in the Euro 2024 qualifying defeat away to Greece.

On the flip side, Collins made a grave error in the first game against Helsinki, which handed the hosts an early lead, however, he helped the side battle back to take the three points to give the new manager his first win at the third time of asking.

Hallgrimsson said after that game that the error was spoken about and forgotten about at the half-time break, while Collins has revealed