Mick McCarthy expects both James McClean and Enda Stevens to be available for Ireland’s Euro 2020 play-off game away to Slovakia.

James McClean is hoping that intensive rehab work he is undertaking in Dubai will help speed up his recovery from a knee injury in time to make him available for Ireland’s Euro 2020 play-off game against Slovakia on March 26.

Mick McCarthy has more injury concerns to contend with ahead of next month’s Euro play-off in Slovakia with after his regular left-back Enda Stevens suffered a calf injury on Saturday.

“We all know it’s hard,” he said yesterday. “But we’ve got to believe we can do it. The first one is the key. If we win the first one, I think we’ll win the second one. We’ll get momentum (and) we’ll win the second one.

Primarily a left-back, Robinson will provide competition for Republic of Ireland international Enda Stevens, who has played every minute Sheffield in the Premier League this season.

The Republic of Ireland’s best performance of the Euro 2020 qualifying campaign wasn’t enough to deliver the required victory to make it through to next year’s tournament.

Paul Dowling assesses the performances of Ireland's players in the 1-1 draw with Denmark.

Matt Doherty’s late header was not enough to send the Republic of Ireland to the Euro 2020 finals as they came up just short in a tense encounter with old foes Denmark.

Ireland are facing one of the in-form teams in Europe, whose unbeaten run over the past three years is lurking them towards world record territory.

Spurs teenager Troy Parrott and Celtic's Lee O'Connor both make the move up from Stephen Kenny's U21 squad

Sheffield United moved up to sixth in the Premier League table after a 3-0 victory against Burnley.

Liverpool left it late to maintain their six-point advantage at the top of the Premier League on Saturday.

Seamus Coleman will miss out as he serves a two-game suspension but will be invited to join up with the squad in Dublin for the final Euro 2020 qualifier.

There was no quick getaway from their Swiss mission for the Republic of Ireland players.

Player ratings with Paul Dowling

And so it's Daneja vu all over again.

Ger McCarthy on the lessons learned from Ireland's 2-0 loss to Switzerland at the Stade de Genève.

Mick McCarthy's side head into this evening's away match in Switzerland still unbeaten in Group D.

Barring one adventurous run in which he cut inside a couple of Georgian defenders into their penalty box, Matt Doherty made little impact during the stalemate in Tbilisi.

It’s hard to see how taking on Switzerland on their own patch could be anything other than a seriously daunting experience for Ireland but Enda Stevens will be only too happy to be back in the thick of things in Geneva tonight.

Aaron Connolly is very much in Mick McCarthy’s mind for a starting place in Geneva tomorrow night but if the Brighton bright spark is to be given the nod, the manager suggests he might need support up front.

Ireland are top of the group with two games to play - starting with a tough tie in Switzerland on Tuesday.

The Republic of Ireland have drawn 0-0 against Georgia in their Euro 2020 qualifier in Tbilisi.

It didn’t take long at Mick McCarthy’s pre-match press conference for the visitors present to learn that Aaron Connolly’s fever had already reached Tbilisi.

Former Aston Villa defender Derrick Williams has come out in support of disgraced youth boss Kevin MacDonald after the veteran coach was sacked by the club in August following an investigation into claims of bullying that stretched back over 25 years.

Matt Doherty pauses as he weighs up the question.

Blackburn Rovers defenders Darragh Lenihan and Greg Cunningham have been called up for the Republic of Ireland's Euro 2020 qualifiers this month.

A look at the Republic of Ireland's player performances against Bulgaria tonight.

Conor Hourihane, Greg Cunningham, and Enda Stevens were teammates in the same Ireland U21 side when James Collins hit a hat-trick on his debut against Liechtenstein.

Call it ‘John Egan — The Sequel’. The week before last, we were talking to him at Sheffield United’s training ground and, considering his bloodlines, it was no surprise that much of the conversation revolved around the upcoming All-Ireland final.

It’s an old adage in football: if you can’t win a game, at least do your best not to lose it.

Callum Robinson has shaken off a slight thigh injury to start for the Republic of Ireland in this evening's crunch Euro 2020 qualifier against Switzerland.

Unlike John Egan and Enda Stevens, who both made it to Croker on Sunday, Darren Randolph watched proceedings on television and, as one goalkeeper observing another, was much taken with the performance of the Dublin netminder Stephen Cluxton.

Mick McCarthy's men face Switzerland in a "huge" Euro2020 qualifier on September 5 before a friendly with Bulgaria five days later.

After plummeting from the highs of Sheffield United’s Premier League promotion to the low of crisis club Bolton Wanderers, Danny Lafferty has found solace in the League of Ireland.

Mick McCarthy has named his Ireland squad for the forthcoming European Championship qualifier against Switzerland and the friendly with Bulgaria.

Baby steps but significant ones. That was Mick McCarthy’s assessment after witnessing James McCarthy’s first appearance in a Crystal Palace shirt.

The squad for the Euro 2020 qualifier against Switzerland will be announced on Friday.

Stephen Kelly, who played under Roy Hodgson at Fulham, believes the former England manager is just the man to get the best out of James McCarthy at Crystal Palace and help the midfielder refloat his international career.

Ireland’s striker quartet remain without a goal after David McGoldrick saw his effort against Gibraltar chalked off an own-goal.

The flip flops were a necessity, they also told the tale of a niggly night in Copenhagen.

It was just of 5pm local time, four hours before kick-off, when an open-topped party bus stopped in traffic outside the Ireland team’s hotel in the centre of Copenhagen.