Shamrock Rovers defender Josh Honohan and Celtic striker Johnny Kenny are not expected to be included in Heimir Hallgrímsson’s 23-man Republic of Ireland squad to face Bulgaria in the Nations League relegation playoff.
Honohan and Kenny were named in an initial 40-strong panel, in recognition of their performances during Rovers’ run to the knock-out stages of the Uefa Conference League. But neither player is expected to feature in Plovdiv next Thursday or in the second leg in Dublin on Sunday week.
Kenny has barely played since he returned to Celtic last December after a loan spell in Tallaght that yielded 20 goals.
Uncapped Watford pair James Abankwah and Rocco Vata, an Albanian-and-Scottish-qualified teenager with enormous potential, are set to be selected for the first time. Sinclair Armstrong’s form for Bristol City this season will also be rewarded with a recall for the first time since his debut in a 2-1 loss to the Netherlands in September 2023.
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Séamus Coleman, however, is struggling to make the cut as the 36-year-old cannot dislodge Jake O’Brien from the right back slot at Everton, while injury-confirmed absentees Festy Ebosele, Chiedozie Ogbene, Andrew Omobamidele and Sammie Szmodics could be joined by centre backs Liam Scales and Mark McGuinness.
1 Clarify comments about Shamrock Rovers
The first item on the agenda when Hallgrímsson sits down to explain the make-up of his Ireland squad on Thursday afternoon is likely to be the discord that emerged last month between the Icelander and Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley.
In December, when the Ireland head coach was asked if any Rovers players can expect international call-ups after their European success, he said that “hopefully they will get a career change from this success”. Bradley branded Hallgrímsson’s comment as “out of touch” and “incredibly disrespectful” to everyone working in the League of Ireland.
On Friday, during an appearance on The Late Late Show alongside Ireland women’s head coach Carla Ward, the host Patrick Kielty asked if Irish-based players need to move abroad to advance their careers?
“I didn’t say that,” Hallgrímsson replied. “The League of Ireland is improving drastically. There is a positive spiral going on. At the moment we’ve got two guys that played with Shamrock in our preliminary squad for the national team. I would contradict myself if I were to say that you need to be somewhere else.
“Automatically, with the Brexit, players will stay here and the younger players will get their first senior caps,” he continued.
“They can’t go until they are 18 to England. That makes it easier for us here to keep them in the league and the players will be younger here.”
Mason Melia, the Tottenham Hotspur-bound teenager, should feature for Jim Crawford’s under-21s against Scotland on March 21st while Rovers’ 16-year-old striker Michael Noonan can expect to play in the under-19 Euro qualifiers against Finland, Slovenia and Germany.
2 Integrate new faces
The Waterford-born Abankwah (21) helped St Patrick’s Athletic win the FAI Cup in 2021, completing his Leaving Certificate before joining the trickle of Irish talent to Italian clubs. In January, after signing a four-year contract extension with Udinese, he joined Watford on loan.
Vata is the son of former Celtic and Albania international Rudi Vata but he qualifies through a grandmother on his Scottish mother’s side of the family. Capped by Ireland since under-15, his recent displays for Watford convinced Hallgrímsson to fast-track the 19-year-old into the senior squad. The Albanian federation have repeatedly sought a change in allegiance.
3 Settle on a starting XI ahead of the World Cup campaign
The World Cup qualifiers begin against Hungary in Dublin on September 6th.
After nine months recovering from Achilles tendon surgery, Gavin Bazunu has played more football than Caoimhín Kelleher since the January loan from Southampton to Standard Liege in Belgium. With only four games played in 2025, Kelleher is seeking a summer move away from Liverpool and out of Alisson Becker’s shadow.
O’Brien’s breakthrough at Everton under David Moyes should earn him a fourth cap in Plovdiv and Matt Doherty is also experiencing an upturn in fortunes at Wolverhampton Wanderers. Hallgrímsson and his assistant coach John O’Shea were present at Molineaux on Saturday night to watch their right-sided defensive options play out a 1-1 draw.
Premier League regulars Darragh O’Shea at Ipswich Town and Nathan Collins at Brentford look like the guaranteed starters in an Irish back four.
4 Build around Andy Moran
If there was a positive to take from Wembley, it was Moran’s 14-minute cameo when the 21-year-old performed like he had entered a deadlocked FA Cup final rather than a humiliating dead rubber. Hallgrímsson will have kept note of the Dubliner’s loan from Brighton to Championship strugglers Stoke City, where he has made 37 appearances this season.
Will Smallbone’s goalscoring return from injury in Southampton’s 3-1 loss at Anfield last weekend will put pressure on Josh Cullen, Jason Knight, Jayson Molumby and Finn Azaz to transfer their steady Championship form to Bulgaria.
5 The Ferguson Conundrum
The main conundrum for Hallgrímsson is Evan Ferguson’s fitness. The 20-year-old has made four cameos for West Ham United, totalling just 91 minutes since his loan move away from Brighton. In contrast, Adam Idah has turned scoring off the Celtic bench into an art form with six of his 14 goals this season coming when he began matches in the dugout. And Troy Parrott is tearing up the Dutch league with 12 of his 17 goals for AZ Alkmaar leaving him second in the Eredivisie scoring charts.
