Martin O’Neill focus on players available for double header

As endgame looms on Ireland’s Euro Group D qualification campaign, Martin O’Neill will be keen to focus today on the players available to him when he announces his provisional squad for the double-header against Germany and Poland.

Midfield mainstay Glenn Whelan and wideman James McClean are definitely out of the visit of the world champions to Dublin on October 8 while Jack Grealish isn’t expected to feature either in that game or the concluding trip to Poland four days later.

The Aston Villa attacker, who scored his first senior goal in Sunday’s Premier League defeat to Leicester City, has yet to confirm his allegiance either way to Ireland or England.