Winds of change continue to blow in Kenny's Ireland camp

The winds of change continue to blow around Stephen Kenny's Republic of Ireland, bringing opportunity for some and cold disappointment for others.

Michael Obafemi and Aaron Connolly were, according to the manager, left out of from his latest squad due to hamstring and heel concerns respectively, but the exclusion of Jamie McGrath was down to ruthless pragmatism.

"It’s a tough call as he's been really excellent for us, but his move [from St Mirren to Wigan Athletic] hasn’t gone to plan for him," said Kenny.

"He’s not been featuring for Wigan and even been omitted from the squad on occasions.

"My concern is not that he hasn’t been playing recently, but going forward he may not play between now and June [when the Nations League campaign starts]. So if I included him here, he may not play for six months, and I haven’t looked at how the other players in our squad do."

That thought process explains why Connor Ronan and Mark Sykes get their shot. Ronan has been flying for McGrath's old club St Mirren while former Northern Ireland underage international Sykes has been quietly impressing for a while with Oxford United in League One.

He declined a call-up to Northern Ireland's senior panel in 2019 because he was desperate to represent the Republic. His patience has been rewarded.

"It gives us an opportunity to look at Mark and Connor at close quarters in the senior international squad ahead of the Nations League and increases the options in those positions," Kenny explained.

"We have, obviously, goalkeeping positions where we're overloaded with players there who can go straight into the team, centre-backs... but those sort of advanced, wider 10s, there's competition for places in those areas and we're looking to increase that. Connor and