Striker Daryl Murphy says qualification for Euro 2016 is in the Republic of Ireland’s own hands ahead of their final two group games against Germany in Dublin this evening (Sky Sports One, 7pm) and Poland in Warsaw on Sunday (Sky Sports One, 7pm). Murphy is joined in the Ireland squad by David McGoldrick, while Christophe Berra (Scotland), Tommy Oar (Australia) and Ainsley Maitland-Niles (England U19s) could also win caps today.
"We have two very tough games, but we’ve got ourselves into a very good position in the group and it’s in our own hands really,” Murphy said. "We’ve got Germany at home and Poland away so it’s not going to be easy.
"But we were behind Scotland a month or two ago and now we’re ahead of them in a good position so we’ll see what it brings.”
He added: "Realistically, this is my last chance to play at a major tournament for my country and myself and the rest of the boys want to do everything we possibly can to get there.”
Germany currently lead Group D on 19 points with Poland second on 17, Ireland third on 15 with Berra’s Scotland fourth on 11, all having played eight of their 10 games.
The top two sides qualify automatically with Ireland still mathematically in with a chance of winning the group if they are victorious in both their remaining matches.
Second is a more realistic target, while they have an outside chance of qualifying automatically as the highest-ranked third-placed side but would be more likely to be one of the eight teams finishing third who go into the play-offs.
Scotland, who face Poland at Hampden Park this evening (Sky Sports Two, 7.30pm) and then take on Gibraltar in Portugal on Sunday (Sky Sports Two, 7.30pm), can no longer qualify automatically but can finish third and go into the play-offs and will finish in front of Ireland if they are level on points as they have the better head to head record.
Oar and Australia play a World Cup qualifier against Jordan in Amman this afternoon. The Socceroos are currently top of their group having taken nine points from their three matches.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles is with the England U19 squad for their Euro 2016 qualifying group games in Skopje, Macedonia. They face the hosts today, Finland on Saturday and Italy on the following Tuesday.