Richard Keogh on Austria game: ‘Everything has been building up to this’

While Shane Duffy and Ciaran Clark have emerged as Martin O’Neill’s first-choice centre-half pairing, the absence through injury of the Newcastle United man means one of those places at the heart of the defence is up for grabs when Ireland take on Austria on Sunday.

Since Duffy is looking nailed on to start, the contest for the other berth seems a straight choice between Richard Keogh and John O’Shea, with the smart money on the former to be the one to collect back-to-back competitive caps, having featured — alongside the Sunderland man — in the scoreless qualifier with Wales.

Keogh, it’s true, had an unhappier time of it in the recent 3-1 friendly loss to Mexico in New Jersey, suffering almost as much as his sidekicks in an experimental and problematic three at the back alongside Duffy and John Egan.