Paul Fennessy

Goalkeeper

IN THE past, Gavin Bazunu was invariably preferred to Caoimhín Kelleher in goals.

But Heimir Hallgrímsson is likely to keep faith with the Liverpool star despite his rival’s return.

Southampton’s Bazunu is gradually getting used to first-team football again after recently recovering from a long-term injury that put him out of action for close to a year.

While the 23-year-old’s six league appearances on loan at Standard Liege is only two fewer than Kelleher in the Premier League, the Cork goalkeeper has featured 24 times in all competitions this season, most recently featuring for Arne Slot’s side in the Carabao Cup final.

So it would be a major surprise if Kelleher did not start on Thursday evening ahead of Bazunu and Middlesbrough loanee Mark Travers.

Defence

An interesting question is whether Hallgrímsson goes with three or four at the back.

There are plenty of options at centre-back.

However, apart from the early stages of his reign, the Icelandic boss has preferred a four-man defence and probably will stick with that strategy.

Nathan Collins and Dara O’Shea look the most obvious pairing, with Liam Scales suspended. The inexperienced Jimmy Dunne and James Abankwah will most likely be held in reserve.

On the right, it’s a toss-up between Everton’s in-form converted full-back Jake O’Brien and Wolves’ in-form converted centre-back Matt Doherty — the latter’s considerable experience at this level might get him the nod. That said, the Ireland manager has not been afraid to throw a new face in at the deep end, as he showed by picking Mark McGuinness against England.

On the left, Robbie Brady has generally been selected when available and that is likely to be the case again.

The Preston star’s performance away to Finland was particularly influential, as he registered a goal and an assist, while he is comfortably the top scorer in this squad with 10 goals from 68 appearances at international level (Troy Parrott is the next highest with five)

Ryan Manning was a late call-up to the squad so appears to be further down in the pecking order, despite 17 Premier League appearances for Southampton this season.

Midfield

The absence of important wide players in this group is notable, with Festy Ebosele, Chiedozie Ogbene and Sammie Szmodics all unavailable.

Rocco Vata and Mikey Johnston are both natural wingers. But the former is uncapped and the latter is still relatively new to international football, with many of his 13 caps coming from the bench.

Mark Sykes is another relatively inexperienced option — he has won five caps since getting a first call-up in 2022.

But the Belfast native has had a decent season, making 25 appearances for playoff hopefuls Bristol City, and scoring in his last two Championship games.

The central positions are easier to predict. The Nathan-Collins-in-midfield experiment they tried against England is unlikely to be repeated, as there is less need for a centre-back on the pitch against lower-quality opposition, even if that decision was not as disastrous as the 5-0 result suggests.

Consequently, with Jayson Molumby unavailable, Hallgrímsson is expected to go with Josh Cullen and Jason Knight, who have been experiencing encouraging seasons in the Championship with Burnley and Bristol City respectively.

Jack Taylor and Andrew Moran will probably have to bide their time on the bench.

Attack

It’s hard to ignore Finn Azaz’s form at the moment.

No player in the Championship has made more assists than him, while he has also boosted Middlesbrough’s promotion bid by scoring 10 goals.

There is a sense that there is more to come from him at international level. The 24-year-old has five caps, but none of them were particularly memorable.

Up top, there will be a temptation to go with Evan Ferguson despite the 20-year-old struggling to get game time this season at Brighton and West Ham.

The Meath native is still widely considered the Irish striker with the highest ceiling and his four goals from 18 games is a better scoring ratio than the other attacking players in the squad.

But given his lack of minutes, playing him twice from the outset over a few days is a big ask.

Hallgrímsson might be tempted to spring him from the bench in Plodiv and start him at home on Sunday.

That decision would be made easier because Troy Parrott and Adam Idah are having their best seasons in professional football.

Idah has done well at Celtic, scoring 14 goals in 47 appearances.

Parrott has been a revelation at AZ Alkmaar, with 17 goals in 41 appearances.

That form might convince Hallgrímsson that the former Spurs man deserves a starting spot.

Meanwhile, 21-year-old Sinclair Armstrong has three goals in 30 appearances for Bristol City and the former Shamrock Rovers youngster is likely to be perceived as an impact substitute at best for now.

Possible Ireland starting XI v Bulgaria: Kelleher; O’Brien, Collins, O’Shea, Brady; Cullen, Knight; Johnston, Azaz, Sykes; Parrott.