The Shane Duffy trail has run cold. A stalwart for the Republic of Ireland during Stephen Kenny’s ropey two-year rebuilding process, the 31-year-old is set to be excluded from the senior squad ahead of the European Championships qualification campaign.
Ireland face Latvia in a friendly at the Aviva Stadium on March 22nd, five days before Didier Deschamps stellar French outfit visit Dublin for the first Euros tie.
Duffy already missed out on the November squad, citing personal reasons, but his undulating club career appeared to find terra firma when a loan spell at Fulham was made permanent in January.
However, the big Derry centre half cannot penetrate Marco Silva’s starting XI at Craven Cottage.
“My take on it is this,” said Kenny. “At the time [signing for Fulham], on paper he was delighted with the move. They had two center backs, Tosin [Adarabioyo] and [Tim] Ream, who had been in the Championship, who were not proven Premier League players.
“Shane was coming from a situation at Brighton where [Adam] Webster and [Lewis] Dunk were excellent. It was hard to get in there. They paid £20m for Webster. Dunk was club captain and had done brilliantly. He had been Dunk’s partner for years, then they bought Webster and he was struggling to play. They had other players as well.
“He went to Fulham and he’s thinking, ‘Right they’ve two defenders who played in the Championship; they’re going to start. They’re unproven at this level. I’ll take my chance. With an injury, I’ll get a chance.’ The following week, they signed [Issa] Diop from West Ham for £13m. That meant he was one of four.
“I went to see him play against Crawley in the Carabao Cup [last August]. They were beaten [2-0]. It wasn’t good. There was talk of a move at Christmas. Fulham had paid a loan fee to Brighton for him. It probably covered his wages. Another club would have to go and negotiate that with Brighton. He found himself in a bit of a quandary.
“He played in the FA Cup against Sunderland [in February], his first proper game of the year. Didn’t play against Leeds the other night. It’s been far from ideal for Shane.”
Nathan Collins has also struggled for minutes in the Premier League under new Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Julen Lopetegui, missing out to Craig Dawson in the last five matches, but Kenny retains full confidence in the 21-year-old.
“We didn’t envisage Evan Ferguson coming on so quickly but neither did we envisage Nathan not playing after emerging so quickly. Things are sometimes unpredictable because in my opinion Nathan has played well but has found himself out of the team. He’s been excellent for us and has played a lot of games this year.”
Kenny has strong centre-back options to start against France, in Collins, John Egan, Dara O’Shea and Andrew Omobamidele, which leaves Duffy at risk of being overlooked entirely, especially if Seámus Coleman and Darragh Lenihan, who both play regularly at Everton and Middlesbrough, are deemed sufficient cover.
When asked directly about calling Duffy into the next Irish squad, Kenny replied: “I’ve a lot to consider. A lot to consider.”
