Town striker Daryl Murphy looks set to be among the substitutes when the Republic of Ireland open their Euro 2016 campaign against Sweden in Paris this afternoon (BBC One from 4.30pm, KO 5pm).
Former Blues skipper Jon Walters was back in full training on Saturday having suffered an achilles injury prior to the 23-man squad travelling to France and is expected to start with Southampton frontman Shane Long also in the XI.
Murphy, the only Town player in the squad with David McGoldrick not having made the final cut, seems likely to win his 22nd full cap from the bench at some stage. The 33-year-old is still looking for his first international goal.
Manager Martin O’Neill says the Ireland camp can’t wait to get going against Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the rest of the Swedish squad.
"We're raring to go. It's been a long wait since November and the play-off when we qualified. We celebrated then but now we're impatient to get going and do something here,” he said.
BREAKING: The #IRL side to face Sweden has been named! #COYBIG pic.twitter.com/iEeRAGBrH8
— FAIreland (@FAIreland) June 13, 2016
Belgium face Italy in Group E’s other game at 8pm. Ireland face the Belgians on Saturday and then the Italians a week on Wednesday.
Ex-Blue Gareth McAuley played the full 90 minutes as Northern Ireland lost their first game 1-0 to Poland yesterday, while former loanee Jonny Williams impressed before being subbed in the 71st minute as Wales defeated Slovakia 2-1 in their opener on Saturday.
One-time Town defender Freddie Veseli was an unused sub as 10-man Albania lost 1-0 to Switzerland, also on Saturday.
Former Blues striker Tamas Priskin’s Hungary get into action on Tuesday when they take on Austria.