Stephen Kenny needs latest injection of youth to bring new cutting edge

Kenny remembered Chiedozie Ogbene, now 24, for his role off the bench with Cork City in the 2016 FAI Cup final when the Leesiders stopped his own Dundalk side claiming the double

Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny during an interview with RTÉ following his squad announcement at Abbotstown yesterday. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Another Republic of Ireland squad, more new faces. But here’s the thing. How many of Stephen Kenny’s selections as manager have been borne of necessity rather than pure desire? Yesterday’s confirmation of a 27-man party for June friendlies against Andorra and Hungary only adds to that debate.

Covid-related issues thinned the ranks of early squads to a debilitating degree, David McGoldrick’s retirement from international football forced a radical rethink, and all the while injuries took their usual toll on a manager and a group struggling to find form and more than mere function.