The FAI are waiting for “paperwork” from Fifa before confirming Mikey Johnston’s transformation from Scottish to Irish international player.
The Glasgow-born Celtic winger, currently on loan to Portuguese club Vitoria Guimaraes, offers a different dimension to what James McClean and Robbie Brady currently offer Stephen Kenny’s team.
“Mikey has attributes that, to be honest, we probably don’t have in the squad,” said Kenny. “A winger of that ilk, a right-footed left-winger who can dribble and take people inside or outside and has a good final pass ... I expect him to be important and very much be involved in the campaign ahead.”
Also, Johnston is 23, 10 and eight years younger than McClean and Brady. Presuming the paper trail from Glasgow to Abbotstown is completed in time, Kenny will include him in this month’s senior squad, potentially ahead of Callum O’Dowda and Ryan Manning, to play a friendly against Latvia before France come to Dublin for a blockbuster start to the European Championships qualification campaign.
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The World Cup runners-up face Ireland on March 27th, 72 hours after Didier Deschamps’s men host the Netherlands in Paris.
Callum Robinson has been ruled out with a “severe hamstring” injury while Enda Stevens, Darragh Lenihan and Aaron Connolly are also unavailable, so the quartet will miss out on John O’Shea’s first session as Irish coach.
O’Shea, having been promoted from Jim Crawford’s under-21 management, will retain his full-time role at Stoke City.
“John had some quite inventive set pieces with the under-21s,” said Kenny of the former Manchester United defender. “He has a good way about him coaching.
“The thing for him was to make sure he felt ready himself. He had to complete his Pro Licence and he did another Uefa qualification. I think there is a pathway now, obviously Keith Andrews went from the under-17s with Ireland to the under-21s and then the senior international team.
“It was important that when John Eustace left [to become Birmingham City manager] we didn’t want to rush an appointment. We wanted somebody who would fit in seamlessly with the coaching team and with the players.
“The difficulty for John was that he played with some players who are still in the squad. But I don’t see that as a difficulty. They all have huge respect for him. He’s had experience with the younger players as well.
“We met as a staff a few weeks ago in Birmingham. We all got on really well. John has great humility as a person. He will be a good addition.
“When I spoke to him, he said this is what he definitely wants to do and felt it was the next step for him.”
