Soccer

Mick McCarthy has no worries about left-back void ahead of Bulgaria friendly

Republic of Ireland's Conor Hourihane will slot in at left back against Bulgaria tonight
Republic of Ireland's Conor Hourihane will slot in at left back against Bulgaria tonight Republic of Ireland's Conor Hourihane will slot in at left back against Bulgaria tonight

International friendly: Republic of Ireland v Bulgaria (tonight, Dublin, 7.45pm)

MICK McCarthy believes Conor Hourihane has the ability to slot in at left back as the Republic of Ireland manager begins the auditioning process ahead of tonight’s friendly against Bulgaria.

Sheffield United’s Enda Stevens, capped 11 times, has been a revelation at left back but is suspended for next month’s Euro 2020 Qualifier against Georgia.

Matt Doherty, out of favour on the international stage since the opening day Qualifier in Gibraltar, could be given a chance to shine at left back next month while McCarthy didn’t rule out sending an SOS to Stephen Ward, who quit international football before the new regime kicked in, or Blackburn Rovers Greg Cunningham.

But recognised midfielder Hourihane will play in the unfamiliar defensive position in Dublin tonight.

“Conor Hourihane is playing left-back tomorrow, “ confirmed the manager yesterday.

“Wouldn’t it be amazing if he played really well tomorrow and everybody was ‘wow’? If he doesn’t, nothing ventured, nothing gained. And he’s one of those who has not been playing [for his club Aston Villa] and I’d like him to have more minutes.”

McCarthy added: “He is a very intelligent player, that’s for sure. He has a wonderful left foot and if we can get him further up the pitch so he can deliver crosses, we should get some joy out of that. Depending on who he’s up against him, if he has a flying winger can he deal with it?

“But he’s going to get 90 minutes and he might not get that many more before next month [for the Euro 2020 games against Georgia and Switzerland], at least I will have had a look at that and it might be another string to his bow.”

Interestingly, McCarthy has no intentions of playing McClean in a more defensive role against Georgia and feels the Derryman’s ability to press the opposition higher up the field – which helped yield the equaliser against Switzerland last Thursday night – is a crucial aspect to the Republic’s gameplan.

“If I had to play him there, I wonder what I’d do if I lost his energy and his drive and that ability to close down from the front and chase back and nick it off the opposition and put in a cross and we score the equaliser – I really appreciate what he does.

“The left-back slot isn’t concerning me,” McCarthy insisted. “If Stephen Ward is playing, I’m sure he’d come back and play. If Greg Cunningham is playing, he’ll come back and play. They’ve been playing it all their lives.”

The Republic remain unbeaten after five games and are still top of Group D and were further boosted by Denmark’s scoreless draw in Georgia on Sunday night that sees Mick’s men two points better off than the fancied Danes.

Two wins out of their remaining three fixtures would virtually guarantee the Irish a place at next summer’s finals, but their run-in couldn’t be any tougher.

After tonight’s friendly – McCarthy’s first since taking the reins last November – the Republic travel to face Georgia (Saturday October 12) and Switzerland (Tuesday October 15) before rounding off their campaign, rather ominously, at home to Denmark (Monday November 18).

Asked about the prospect of winning a couple more qualifiers, McCarthy wryly replied: “That should be nice and easy then, won’t it? Georgia away, Switzerland away and Denmark at home!”

Under further prompting, McCarthy intimated that he was happy with the team’s work to date.

“I think I have shown confidence in myself and my staff and the players all the way through. Nothing ever changes with that. We try to win every game. We went to Denmark and tried to win and at the end of it we might have nicked it. We tried against Switzerland to beat them but we didn’t. We remain unbeaten and I always have confidence that we can win games.”

Centre back John Egan is expected to get a run-out against Bulgarians while Preston’s Alan Browne could earn a start in the Irish attack.

Meanwhile, Bulgaria have been hopeless in their qualification quest, losing all five games in Group A to date and suffering a 4-0 pummelling at the hands of England only a few days ago.