So then Doherty is back in the side despite being left out of the squad, Ebosele and Johnston start. Very interesting then. Doherty will certainly have a point to prove.
Here is the Finland team:
Finland: Hradecky (Bayer Leverkusen); Alho (Asteros Aktor), Hoskonen (Cracovia), Ivanov (Eintracht Braunschweig), Uronen (Charlotte FC); Antman (Go Ahead Eagles), Kamara (Stade Rennais), Lod (Minnesota United), Peltola (DC United); Kairinen (Sparta Prague); Källman (Cracovia).
The referee is Harm Osmers from Germany).
The Ireland team has been announced.
Ireland: Kelleher; Doherty, Scales, Collins (capt), O’Dowda; Ebosele, Cullen, Knight, Johnston; Szmodics, Ferguson.
Permutations:
England are playing Greece in Athens in the other match in the group. On Sunday, Ireland will play England in Wembley in their final Nations League group game, that one kicking off at 5pm.
Fears of automatic relegation to League C were assuaged with an away win against Finland in the last international break. But should Ireland lose this one, it would be very much back on the menu. Avoiding defeat through a draw should be enough to escape automatic relegation, while a win would guarantee third place in the group.
Two big victories could theoretically get Ireland to second in the group if England lose both games by a significant margin, but the chances are minuscule, so Ireland are most likely heading for third place.
In which case, Ireland would be heading for the promotion/relegation play-offs in March of next year, against one of the second-place teams in League C. As it stands, the teams they would face there would be Slovakia, Kosovo, Belarus or Armenia.
Check out Gavin Cummiskey’s match preview:
“Heimir Hallgrímsson is learning a harsh lesson previously visited upon his predecessor Stephen Kenny. Since becoming the Republic of Ireland manager last September the Icelander continually emphasised the importance of a consistent starting XI that would eventually perform like a club side.
“It worked when Hallgrímsson helped Iceland exceed expectations at Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup. Why not rinse and repeat with Ireland? The simple answer is injuries. Ten of them.”
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Nations League League B, Group 2 game between Ireland and Finland, taking place in the Aviva Stadium. Kick-off is at 7.45pm. Ireland got their first competitive win against a top 100 team in a long time against Finland in Helsinki, with Robbie Brady scoring the winner. It put them third in the group and three points ahead of Finland with two games left, so a win here would guarantee Ireland make the promotion/relegation playoff and don’t get relegated automatically. Adam Idah has pulled out with injury, Chiedozie Ogbene is out long-term, so a chance for a few new starters in the side for this one you’d imagine. Here’s the squad, the team will follow when it’s available:
Republic of Ireland squad
Goalkeepers: Caoimhín Kelleher (Liverpool), Mark Travers (Bournemouth), Max O’Leary (Bristol City)
Defenders: Matt Doherty (Wolves), Dara O’Shea (Ipswich Town), Nathan Collins (Brentford), Jake O’Brien (Everton), Mark McGuinness (Luton Town), Liam Scales (Celtic), Callum O’Dowda (Cardiff City), Ryan Manning (Southampton)
Midfielders: Josh Cullen (Burnley), Jason Knight (Bristol City), Jayson Molumby (West Brom), Finn Azaz (Middlesbrough), Andy Moran (Stoke City, on loan from Brighton).
Forwards: Adam Idah (Celtic), Evan Ferguson (Brighton), Tom Cannon (Stoke City, on loan from Leicester City), Troy Parrott (AZ Alkmaar), Festy Ebosele (Watford, on loan from Udinese), Kasey McAteer (Leicester City), Sammie Szmodics (Ipswich Town), Mikey Johnston (West Brom).
