Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson is confident that Troy Parrott can shake off a bug and be available for selection for Friday night’s friendly international against Senegal at the Aviva Stadium (7.45pm).
Parrott was confined to his room in the Castleknock hotel earlier in the week with a bug, but Hallgrímsson expects the 23-year-old to train on Thursday.
“Troy was sick yesterday and he stayed in his room but he was feeling much better this morning,” said Hallgrímsson. “He is the only concern we have. Otherwise everybody is fit, ready and looking forward to Senegal.
“Troy will train today and we will see how he reacts to the session before selecting the team.”
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If Parrott does not recover, Evan Ferguson or Adam Idah will lead the line against the 19th ranked country in the world. Ireland are currently placed 60th on the Fifa list.
Brentford’s new signing Caoimhín Kelleher is expected to start in goal behind Matt Doherty, Nathan Collins, Dara O’Shea and Robbie Brady, who was named the FAI men’s international player of the season.
“It shows how s**t youse have all been if I’m winning this,” Brady jokingly told his team-mates after assistant coach John O’Shea presented him with the award on Wednesday.
Everton’s Jake O’Brien and Celtic’s Liam Scales are alternative options in defence against Senegal and when Ireland travel to Luxembourg next Tuesday.
Will Smallbone is expected to return to the line-up, as an attacking midfielder, potentially ahead of Jason Knight and Jack Taylor with the Spanish-born, Cameroonian qualified John Joe Patrick Finn in line to make his debut for Ireland.
“It is important that we have more than 11 players ready to play and knowing everything about how we want to play,” said Hallgrímsson. “We wanted to have a camp in May to add knowledge to more players, see new faces and rock the boat.
“We’ve been more or less picking a similar squad so when we lost out on the May camp we still opened spots for new players to come in.”
