– Paul Dollery reports from Cardiff City Stadium
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND manager Martin O’Neill has handed a senior international debut to Callum Robinson for tonight’s opening game in the Uefa Nations League (7.45pm).
The Preston North End attacker has been named in the starting line-up for the clash with Wales at Cardiff City Stadium.
After declaring for Ireland earlier this year, Robinson recently obtained an Irish passport. The 23-year-old was born in England but his maternal grandmother hailed from Monaghan.
The ex-Aston Villa forward, who represented England at underage level, opened his goalscoring account for the season in Preston’s 2-2 draw with Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.
Martin O’Neill has been forced to contend with a lengthy list of absentees, with seven players currently injured and two others — Declan Rice and Harry Arter — also unavailable.
O’Neill’s selection suggests that a 3-5-2 formation may be deployed, but that won’t become clear until kick-off.
Aston Villa midfielder Conor Hourihane will make his first start in a competitive international, while the team will be captained by Everton full-back Seamus Coleman in his first competitive outing for Ireland since fracturing his leg against Wales in March 2017.
Wales: Wayne Hennessey; Connor Roberts, Chris Mepham, Ashley Williams (captain), Ben Davies; Ethan Ampadu, Joe Allen; David Brooks, Aaron Ramsey, Tom Lawrence; Gareth Bale.
Republic of Ireland: Darren Randolph, Seamus Coleman (captain), Shane Duffy, Ciaran Clark, Stephen Ward, Cyrus Christie, Conor Hourihane; Callum Robinson, Jeff Hendrick, Callum O’Dowda, Jonathan Walters.
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!