Another poor display will heap the pressure on Stephen Kenny

Without an improvement Kenny could become the first Ireland manager in history to be denied honouring a contract extension before its even begun

10 June 2022; Manager Stephen Kenny during a Republic of Ireland training session at the FAI National Training Centre in Abbotstown, Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Not even Celtic derbies like today’s clash are immersed in blood and thunder anymore according to Stephen Kenny but the Ireland boss may require a tourniquet to stem the bleeding next week unless he engineers an upswing in results.

Scotland were already fancied to at least avoid defeat in Dublin due to their superior seeding in the Nations League draw but their contrasting fortunes of the past week point to prolonged pain for Kenny.

Those bumps in the road that his FAI Chairman Roy Barrett highlighted as tolerable the day after losing at home to Luxembourg are accumulating into looming car-crash territory. Various embarrassing results, no wins over a nation of note and a slew of excuses summarise his tenure heading into today’s 25th game in charge.

That the signals suggest he’ll be handing in a team-sheet 90 minutes before kick-off that could resemble a P45 highlight the plight he’s to overturn.

Two defeats from the handier half of the four-game window prompt squad management and there might be up to seven changes to the side that started last Saturday’s campaign opener in Armenia.

Whatever about the damage Scotland could inflict today, a Ukrainian side upgraded from the depleted version which prevailed at the Aviva awaiting on Tuesday in Poland presents a proposition capable of administering the last rites.

Match fitness was always a concern for a squad composed primarily of players on the fringes of Premier League, or even Championship, clubs, so the necessity to rotate resources over an 11-day four game blitz was inevitable.

Injuries sustained by Séamus Coleman in Yerevan and John Egan in the Ukraine duel enforce changes regardless and Kenny yesterday spoke of fitness checks for a couple more.

Although refusing to divulge names during a press briefing laced with coyness, it’s understood doubts have arisen over Chiedozie Ogbene’s wellbeing.

He’s likely to be kept in reserve for Tuesday’s test while the energy expended on Wednesday by his fellow attacker, Jason Knight, may mean a rest is advisable amid the bigger picture.

Callum Robinson, the final element of the triumvirate up top, reported for duty without a start at West Bromwich Albion since April 3. Asking the striker, for all his track record of goals, to start three games in proximity would be foolhardy.

"There will be freshness and fresh impetus in our forward line, for sure,” Kenny promised about rectifying his misfiring attacking unit.

"Very tight games and that can change quickly and we have to be ruthless in front of goal. Improvements are needed with our level of creativity.” 

Who replaces the trio is the curious conundrum facing Kenny, yet Michael Obafemi has a solid case for inclusion.

Alarm could have accompanied the sight of him strolling around the Abbotstown pitch alongside Kevin Mulholland, the Irish physio he worked with at Southampton, but it’s all part of a modified regime he’s subject to from his history of hamstring trouble.

Obafemi’s status as a conventional sole striker puts him favourite to occupy the role Robinson patrolled in the last two games. Behind him, Will Keane and newcomer CJ Hamilton are vying for the pair of No 10 berths.

Further back, one, or both, of the Josh Cullen/Jeff Hendrick midfield axis could drop out.

While Kenny has talked up the latter’s endurance levels, his last club game for on-loan QPR was all of nine weeks ago. Fatigue was an understandable factor in his struggles for consistency last week.

With Alan Browne’s versatility pressing him into the frame to shackle Andy Robertson at wing-back, don’t be surprised if Conor Hourihane is recalled to midfield. His deadliness from set-pieces supplies a potential cure to one of the many deficiencies evident over the last 180 minutes.

Steve Clarke’s Scottish overhaul won’t be as drastic – his main dilemma centring on his use of Scott McTominay.

Assigning the Manchester United midfielder a job in defence for the World Cup playoff defeat to Ukraine backfired and he’s already overloaded with options in the engine-room.

Ireland’s eagerness to arrest their slump and rouse a home crowd starved of entertainment in midweek is an imperative he intends exploiting. Borrowing a tactic from Jack Charlton’s playbook is another intention.

“I expect the game to be quite open, to be honest,” said the Scotland manager. “We’ve watched the way the Irish play and they are quite open at home. They like to get on the front foot early on.

“If we go and play to our maximum capacity, then we can put them under pressure.

“Ireland will try and get a foothold in the group, so the September games are meaningful rather than being in a position where the group has already run away from them.

“I’d imagine that will be the thinking more than anything for them (players). How the fans will react, I don’t know.” 

That will all depend on whether Kenny can awaken his players from the slumber.

His employers will be anticipating better too.

Otherwise, Kenny could become the first Ireland manager in history to be denied honouring a contract extension before its even begun.