If Roy Keane's comment the other night about deserving another chance struck any sort of chord with Stephen Ward then the Brighton defender will have been especially happy last night to hear that he has been recalled to the Republic of Ireland squad for the games against Latvia and Poland.
The Dubliner probably shouldn't read too much into it as the list of 27 names has been assembled by Noel King rather than Martin O'Neill but for the 28-year-old, whose fortunes began to fade under Giovanni Trapattoni after last summer's European Championships – at which he struggled – the recall provides a welcome opportunity to impress the new management team after a year in the international wilderness.
Ward may have benefitted from the absence of Richard Dunne and Damien Delaney with the QPR centre back staying on at his club in order to work on the lingering groin problem that sidelined him for the entirety of last season while the Crystal Palace defender rests a minor ankle injury.
Makes the cut
Alex Pearce is also included in the group that will assemble in Dublin on Monday evening along with Robbie Brady, who was recently laid up for a couple of weeks after a hernia operation. Another Hull City player, midfielder Stephen Quinn, makes the cut but Paul McShane and David Meyler are both omitted.
Robbie Keane seems certain to be involved with the squad despite LA Galaxy's progress in the end-of-season MLS play-offs. The club play the second leg of their tie with Real Salt Lake tonight having won the first game 1-0 and if they win they progress to the Conference finals which have been times so as to allow players report for international duty.
With his backroom staff yet to be finalised, O'Neill will take training next week, using the opportunity to get an early feel for what he has available to him. Keane will be involved too though he will already know quite a few of the players involved next week.
'It's a privilege'
The Northern Irishman, meanwhile, has suggested that he was inclined to take the job offer on this occasion as he wasn't sure when it might come up again. "It's a privilege to manage the Republic of Ireland," he said. "A job like this may not come around for quite some considerable time. The Republic of Ireland have had some success, Jack Charlton was great, Mick McCarthy was excellent and Trapattoni did very well indeed and all stayed in the job for quite a number of years. So that opportunity may not be afforded to anyone in the foreseeable future."
The 61-year-old expressed confidence about his ability to work closely with Keane and insisted that the players would get along well enough with the former Manchester United star too.
"Roy is naturally delighted himself," he said in an interview with Sky Sports, "and I think that going forward everything should be fine. The players will have no problem working with him. They will be very positive as they want to play for their country, regardless of who is running the team."
Any difficulties
Shane Long certainly doesn't anticipate any difficulties, it seems, with the West Brom striker describing the newly appointed pair as "a great management team".
The 26-year-old endured some frustrating spells under the previous regime and will hope to push on over the next couple of years especially if O’Neill has doubts about the likes of Keane and Dunne being still able to play central roles in the qualifying campaign for the European Championship qualifying campaign that gets underway next September.
"Trapattoni lifted us, we got to the Euros and were unbeaten for a long time," he says. "Now Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane have taken over, I think all we needed was something new and fresh to get us back on track. We know it's hard to make it to the World Cup or the Euros, but I think we have the quality to achieve that."
