Another day, another Republic of Ireland XI being tipped to start against Italy.
On Monday, The Times reported that Martin O’Neill would make four changes to the team that lost 3-0 to Belgium on Saturday.
Shane Long was dropped for Daryl Murphy, Stephen Quinn came in for James McCarthy, James McClean and Ciaran Clark missed out for either Richard Keogh or Shane Duffy in the report.
One reported #IRL team for #ITA clash sees Martin O'Neill make four changes https://t.co/M9Ieigbd6o
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) June 20, 2016
O’Neill’s team selections are famously difficult to predict, and the Ireland manager is known to wait until an hour before kick-off to tell players.
What is certain is that Ireland will need a massive improvement from Saturday’s showing to stand any chance in the must-win game against Italy, and to do so changes in certain positions may be necessary.
According to reports Ireland will make three changes to the defence for Wednesday’s game in Lille.
Speaking on RTE’s coverage of Northern Ireland vs Germany, Tony O’Donoghue suggested that John O’Shea, who has captained the team during the tournament, will miss out to Shane Duffy.
The Irish Sun, also says that Richard Keogh will come in for Clark and Brady moves back to left-back, with Stephen Ward returning to the bench.
In midfield, Stephen Quinn replaces McCarthy, James McClean comes in and there’s a chance Murphy will replace Long up-front.
Once again, we must stress that O’Neill’s selections are notoriously difficult to predict, but there was some evidence to support this team, or at least the omission of O’Shea, at Tuesday’s press conference.
The day before a game at Euro 2016, the manager and captain are on press duty, but Coleman, not O’Shea, attended the press conference with O’Neill.
It could be the case that the Everton defender will skipper the team on Wednesday night.
All will be revealed soon enough.
