Stevens ready to hold the left

The right side of defence isn’t the most alluring of sectors on a teamsheet but all eyes will gravitate there when the first starting XI of Mick McCarthy’s second stint in charge of the Republic of Ireland is released today. The suspicion is that the new Ireland boss will accommodate both Seamus Coleman and Matt Doherty by giving the latter a more advanced role but it is a complication that must be solved. The decision on the other side of his defence looks much more straightforward. Stephen Ward has retired from international football and the manager was firm in his conviction this week, in his view, that Robbie Brady is an attacking option rather than a left-back. All of which leaves Enda Stevens as the only recognised No 3 in the current squad.

Stevens is 28 now and still has just half-a-dozen caps to his name. Four of them came off the bench and he spoke yesterday of his desire to simply start a truly competitive game for his country — Nations League doesn’t cut that mustard — on home soil. He is a fixture in a Sheffield United side playing some superb football, in attack and defence, and eight games away from promotion and a place in the Premier League. And McCarthy may well have name-checked him more than any other player this last few months. The man is a shoo-in for a start against Gibraltar.