Do you agree with our Ireland team to face England?

BARRING INJURY, Caoimhín Kelleher will start again after his crucial penalty save helped Ireland earn three points . Mark Travers and Max O’Leary will be held in reserve, although both are having decent seasons at club level, with the former appearing three times in the Premier League for Bournemouth recently and the latter lining out regularly for Bristol City in the Championship. The backline likely won’t see too many changes.

Dara O’Shea was only deemed fit enough to come off the bench against England, but his more defence-minded instincts may earn him a start at Matt Doherty’s expense if he is physically ready. The centre-back pairing of Nathan Collins and Liam Scales kept a clean sheet against Finland and so, are unlikely to be dropped. The only viable alternative would be moving Scales to left-back and playing O’Shea centrally.



However, O’Dowda did well enough on Thursday, so it would be no surprise if the 29-year-old retained his starting spot. The inexperienced pair of Jake O’Brien and Mark McGuinness will probably be on the bench. Ryan Manning — despite five Premier League appearances with Southampton this season — might have to settle for a substitute appearance, as was the case against the Finnish side.

The midfield of Josh Cullen and Jason Knight were okay without being outstanding on Thursday. The game became very open and Ireland were sometimes too easy to play through. England are likely to punish the Boys in Green in similar scenarios, so the central area of the pitch will need to be tighter.

Heimir Hallgrímsson also must make one change in this area, with Knight suspended. It would be a big ask for Andy Moran, who has only one senior cap, to come in. So Jayson Molumby seems the most straightforward call.

He started the last game versus England, but Hallgrímsson has invariably preferred Knight, who has started all four matches since that opening Nations League encounter. Sammie Szmodics will surely be retained in the number 10/second striker role. The Ipswich star was unlucky not to score and was one of the biggest positives from the game at the Aviva the other night.

That means the likes of Finn Azaz and Troy Parrott will probably have to show more patience. Brighton starlet Evan Ferguson is expected to retain his place after scoring the winner against Finland. The 20-year-old has suffered from lack of game time at club level.

He has started just once in the Premier League this season. But Ferguson should still have enough energy to play at least an hour at Wembley. West Brom’s Mikey Johnston, who created the only goal with a superb hanging cross, has probably done enough to stay in the team.

The other side will depend on the fitness of Festy Ebosele after the Watford loanee limped off in the 76th minute on his full international debut. The Wexford native has not been ruled out at the time of writing, but the most obvious like-for-like replacement is Kasey McAteer, who has made five substitute appearances for Leicester City in the Premier League this season. If Ebosele is injured and Hallgrímsson wants to adopt a more defensive approach against one of the best sides in the world, he could play Mikey Johnston on the right and pick Manning — predominantly a wing-back at Southampton — on the left.

Meanwhile, Stoke loanee Tom Cannon did not start the last game and will likely be sprung from the bench again in the second half, especially if his team need a goal. Kelleher; O’Shea, Collins, Scales, O’Dowda; Johnston, Cullen, Molumby, Ebosele; Szmodics, Ferguson. Caoimhin Kelleher (Liverpool), Mark Travers (AFC Bournemouth), Max O’Leary (Bristol City) Dara O’Shea (Ipswich Town), Nathan Collins (Brentford), Mark McGuinness (Luton Town), Liam Scales (Celtic), Callum O’Dowda (Cardiff City), Matt Doherty (Wolves), Jake O’Brien (Everton), Ryan Manning (Southampton).

Josh Cullen (Burnley), Jayson Molumby (West Bromwich Albion), Finn Azaz (Middlesbrough), Andy Moran (Stoke City, on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion). Evan Ferguson (Brighton and Hove Albion), 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 Bromwich Albion)..