Lenihan in line for international return

Dunboyne man Darragh Lenihan is in line to win his third senior Republic of Ireland cap when Stephen Kenny's beleaguered side take on Qatar in an international friendly in Debrecen, Hungary tomorrow (Tuesday).

With Tottenham's Matt Doherty and Sheffield United's Enda Stevens withdrawing from the squad because of injury Kenny, who has yet to win a game in his 10 matches in charge, will get a chance to further examine his defensive reinforcements ahead of the next World Cup qualifier against Portugal in September.

Blackburn Rovers' centre-back Lenihan made his debut for the Ireland senior team in a 2–1 win over the USA in Dublin in June 2018.

The Republic of Ireland squad landed in Hungary last night but did so without the starting wing-backs from their previous two games. Doherty was taken off at half-time of Saturday’s defeat to Luxembourg with an injury, while Stevens was assessed after the game and it was decided he would not travel.

Qatar have been added to Ireland’s five-team World Cup qualifying group to play a series of friendly matches against the Group A side otherwise facing a fallow matchday. The games have been arranged to help Qatar prepare for the 2022 World Cup, for which they have qualified automatically as hosts.

They have won both of their friendly games to date, a 2-1 win against Azerbaijan following a 1-0 win against Luxembourg.