A new era looms, O'Shea focused on the here and now

This is about the here and now for O’Shea, determined to maximise the brief spell and ignore the macro picture of a new era looming.

JOB AT HAND: Interim head coach John O'Shea during a Republic of Ireland media conference. Pic: Stephen McCarthy, Sportsfile

Both John O’Shea and Marc Canham are partial to a morning jog but the momentum around the Irish team will only accelerate to a sprint following this double-header.

The commonality between matches under caretaker control is they’re all soon forgotten.