Stephen Kenny is hoping to get some good news from the battered Derby County championship team as Jason Knight tries to win his fitness fight in time for next week’s international competition.
enny, who named his squad for the World Cup double headers against Portugal and Luxembourg on Thursday, can bring Alan Browne and Jayson Molumby to his midfield after the duo missed qualifying in Azerbaijan away from home.
And Callum O’Dowda is pushing for a return to the national team even after a long-term injury, although he has not completed 90 minutes for Bristol City since returning and was an underutilized sub in the weekend’s win over Barnsley.
Knight worries Kenny after missing his club’s last two games with a hamstring injury, but Rams manager Wayne Rooney is hoping the Dubliner can be fit for Wednesday’s championship meeting with Barnsley.
“We hope he can train on Monday. We’ll see how he is,” said Rooney. “If he survives Monday, he’ll be in the race on Wednesday, but we’ll just have to wait and see how he reacts to practice.”
James McClean scored his fourth goal in six games for Wigan in a 2-0 win over Burton Albion. “The two goals were worthy of every level of football, they were so good, we know what James is capable of,” purred coach Leam Richardson, his team in the League One table.
Forgotten man Seáni Maguire, excluded from recent squads by Kenny, made his recall claim with an impressive performance for Preston in a 2-0 win over Luton Town. Maguire hasn’t scored a goal in 12 league games for his club this season, but manager Frankie McAvoy praised the 27-year-old for his role.
“Seáni deserves a special mention, his connection play was great. We worked with him to find small pockets and get center-backs into areas they didn’t want to go,” said McAvoy. Maguire last played against Bulgaria and has not been selected for the last 10 internationals.
Meanwhile, Bournemouth boss Scott Parker, who hasn’t brought in Robbie Brady since signing for championship leaders, says he replaced Irish U-21 captain Gavin Kilkenny at halftime in Saturday’s win over Reading, because he feared the Dubliner might get a red card.
“Gav was on a booking and we took a 1-0 lead. I just had the feeling that we had to make sure we had a safe center of the pitch defensively. I realized we had to be solid. I didn’t mean rWithout the risk of Gav having a booking, ”said Parker.