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4th October 2024
10:07am BST
Republic of Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrímsson has explained why the experienced Matt Doherty was left out of his squad for the upcoming Nations League games in Finland and Greece.
Everton youngster Jake O’Brien was also left out of the squad announcement, despite being called up for the games against England and Greece last month, along with Tom Cannon who scored four goals for Stoke City on Wednesday evening.
It was a good day for Luton Town centre-half Mark McGuinness who received his first Republic of Ireland call-up in replacement of the injured Seamus Coleman and Will Smallbone.
Aberdeen midfielder Jamie McGrath and West Bromwich Albion winger Mikey Johnston both return to the Ireland camp after being left out last time around, while Watford right-back Festy Ebosele is also included.
Speaking at a press conference in Dublin yesterday, Ireland's new Icelandic manager explained that the reason members of the old guard like Doherty and Coleman aren't included this time around is so that some of the emerging talent can get a chance to show their potential and gain some more experience ahead of the 2026 World Cup in North America.
"We knew this question would come," said Hallgrímsson. "We know that Matt and Séamus have been here for a long time in the squad. They are our most experienced fullbacks, playing at the highest level for a long time.
"But unfortunately they will not play forever, so we need to have a Plan B if they are not there."
Very interesting words from Heimir Halgrimsson on how he sees the road ahead for his team
— Brendan O'Brien (@byBrendanOBrien) October 3, 2024
He is asked here why Matt Doherty has been left out of his latest Ireland squad when his other veteran right-back Seamus Coleman is injured
@ExaminerSport pic.twitter.com/8O2BsDvXL1
He continued: "My job is to get this team to the World Cup in the US in 2026, and given that next year, 2025, if we end up in a group with five nations, all our Fifa windows next year will be official World Cup matches, so this is the only chance to experiment, to give players a chance to show what they can do.
"That is the reason we opted to go for other players at this stage."
SQUAD ANNOUNCED | 24-man squad named for Finland & Greece matches 🤩
— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) October 3, 2024
Mark McGuinness receives his first call-up as Jack Taylor, Finn Azaz, Jamie McGrath, Festy Ebosele & Mikey Johnston all come into the squad 🇮🇪💚
10/10 | 🇫🇮🆚🇮🇪
13/10 | 🇬🇷🆚🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/cIJnoiX572
Hallgrímsson added that Doherty was upset but took the news with professionalism.
"I called Matt yesterday. Obviously he deserves that. He was not happy, of course, he wants to play every game for Ireland, but I just assured him that it’s not like we are leaving him out, we’re just testing other players.
"Because of his experience as well, [we decided] not to bring him in to have him on the bench. It’s better just to give him this camp off."
