Three of the Republic of Ireland's starters in the first match of the Nations League playoffs in Plovdiv against Bulgaria are questionable for the return match tomorrow due to poor fitness, the eiregiude portal reported.
These are defenders Matt Doherty and Ryan Manning, as well as winger Michael Johnson. The curious thing is that Doherty scored the second and winning goal for the final 2:1 for the Republic of Ireland, but he turned out to be the most exhausted player from the clovers after the match at the Hristo Botev Stadium.
Manning's performance on the left flank is assessed as poor, which means a new person in this position. There is also criticism of Robbie Brady – the midfielder, who remained passive when Marin Petkov scored for the Bulgarian team.
The Irish host the Bulgarians in the second leg of the play-offs for a place in League B on Sunday (March 23) at 9:45 p.m. They should actually keep their place, as they come from this level, while Bulgaria claims this position after finishing 2nd in Group C/3 of the tournament in the 2024/25 season.
However, there will certainly be no change in the Irish goal and Quyvin Kelleher will once again be the starter on Sunday. He himself believes that the two matches against Bulgaria will help him strengthen and retain the choice of Liverpool's first goalkeeper, after Alisson Becker was injured during a match with the Brazilian national team.
At the same time, one of the legends of Irish football – Former centre-back with over 500 Premier League appearances, Gary Breen, praised the team's coach, Heimir Hallgrimsson, for continuing to stubbornly impose the 4-4-2 system, which is traditional for this part of Europe, but currently quite unpopular in its classic version.
"Bulgaria is a weak, modest team, but we can only praise the coach for his persistence," Breen said.