All to play for as Martin O’Neill reveals Euro 2016 D-Day

If Ireland’s fringe players needed any reminding of what is potentially up for grabs in the friendly games at the Aviva tomorrow and Tuesday, Martin O’Neill provided it yesterday by revealing the date on which he will unveil his squad for the European Championship finals.

Although the FAI have until May 31 to supply Uefa with the panel for France 2016, O’Neill said he plans to announce the names of the chosen 23 on Saturday May 28, the day after Ireland play the Netherlands in a friendly game at the Aviva Stadium.

After a day off, the Euros squad will then reconvene at their Castleknock hotel base on the Sunday night before travelling to Cork the following day to begin a week of training at Fota Island. It’s planned that Ireland will play an additional warm-up game, at Turner’s Cross, on Tuesday May 31, with likely opponents being Belarus, who are playing Northern Ireland in Belfast the previous Friday.