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Stephen Kenny has confirmed that he has a team in top form to choose from for his first competitive match as coach of the Republic of Ireland ahead of Thursday’s UEFA Nations League clash with Bulgaria in Sofia.
Ireland’s new coach had to deal with the loss of some players from his starting squad as Troy Parrott and Kieran O’Hara had to retire due to injury, while there were injury concerns surrounding midfielder James McCarthy as well.
Sean Maguire, Dara O’Shea and Caoimhin Kelleher were added to the Bulgaria tour group and the coach confirmed that his entire squad was now fit and available for selection.
Despite media reports that the manager was ready to drop captain Seamus Coleman and play Matt Doherty at right back for their first meeting, Kenny stated that he had not yet decided what his starting eleven would be.
Ireland have not played since their 1-1 draw with Denmark last November and, following a manager change, Kenny has only had a few days to work with his new squad, although he has also had to deal with the fact that many of his teams had played. competitive 90 minute games on the weekend.
“Everyone who traveled is fully fit and available to be selected,” said Kenny, speaking from the team’s headquarters in Sofia on the eve of the big game.
The coach was not drawn into the debate between Doherty and Coleman, stating that he has not decided on his final selection because he has been too busy trying to work with the team on how they will play in Sofia.
“No, I haven’t, [told the players], I’ll do it in due time, “Kenny said.
“We have been working during the two days on how we will play, but no, I have not chosen the team yet.
Insisted on the matter, Kenny was asked if he could confirm whether Coleman or Doherty would play.
“No, I can’t,” said the manager.
The manager admitted that time constraints have forced him to limit the amount of work with players during this first week of his senior international career.
This was the result of many of the players needing more recovery time from their weekend efforts, coupled with the fact that this particular camp has been quite short, with a start on Thursday and a travel day to negotiate. .
“We had to handle it obviously, we didn’t anticipate that so many would play 90 minutes last Saturday in preseason because when we had them on Monday, we had to modify our training a bit.”
And while Kenny admitted that he would have liked to spend more time with his players, a common conundrum for international coaches, he said he was aware that it would be futile to try to do too much too soon with his new team.
Kenny’s main concern before his first game was to get to know the players and have his team in tip-top shape by the start of the game on Thursday night.
“There are a lot of really good people [in the squad], a lot of humility, and that is very evident, “he said.
“There is great humility in this group of players.
“We had to plan carefully, there is no point trying to do too much too early. We had to make sure the players were fit and ready for Thursday in the best possible condition.
“Although we have some work to do, ideally you would want to do more, but you can’t force that into three days of training. That’s where we are.”
Follow Bulgaria v Republic of Ireland this Thursday through our RTÉ.ie live blog and RTÉ News app or listen to live commentary on RTÉ 2fm’s Game On.
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