James Cox
In a big blow to Stephen Kenny, Andrew Omobamidele has been ruled out of the Republic of Ireland's clash with Portugal at the Aviva Stadium tonight.
The Norwich City defender is suffering with an Achilles problem that was assessed ahead of tonight's World Cup qualifier.
Omobamidele has not been included in the match day squad submitted to UEFA, while winger Daryl Horgan has also been left out of the squad.
Burnley defender Nathan Collins may now start alongside Shane Duffy and John Egan.
Kenny has urged his players to bring “calm” and “intelligence” to the task of getting the better of Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal.
He said: “It is important that we bring calm to our play and bring a level of composure to our play. We need to have that element of calm in our play even when we are pressed high.
“Portugal will press us high because they are actually very good at that. Regardless, we must have the courage to play out. We must not be fearful in that regard.
“We can bring calm to our play and ensure that we give ourselves the option that whoever is in possession, that they have the required number of options.
“Your movement off the ball has to be of a high level. You have to play with intelligence and try to have some sort of control on the game. Hopefully we can get a cutting edge after that.
“We have to earn the right to do that first and establish some sort of control.”
