Dara O’Shea, Jack Taylor and Chieo Ogbene, whose Republic of Ireland side realistically needs at least a point at home to Portugal in their penultimate World Cup qualifier, are among five Town players who could add to their international caps today.

Ireland have endured a tough campaign and almost certainly need to at least draw with the Portuguese at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin this evening (Amazon Prime, KO 7.45pm) and then win in Hungary on Sunday to stand any chance of reaching the play-offs.

If they draw tonight and Hungary win in Armenia, as seems likely, then the Irish would have to win comfortably in Budapest in order to turnaround the goal difference.

“The results are there to be seen - we’ve had some poor defeats and games we should have won,” O’Shea said, reflecting on the campaign at a press conference yesterday.

“Every player that comes into camp and puts on the shirt has massive aspirations. We want to do really well for our country and it’s a massive privilege to put on that shirt.

“For us, it has been tough but you take that responsibility coming into camp, wanting to do your best.

“Football is football and sometimes things don’t work out the way they’re supposed to. You need to have luck on your side in football sometimes. We’ve had good performances but football is a tough game.

“It’s going to be a different game at the Aviva with our fans there backing us. Hopefully we can create an atmosphere that’s really difficult for them and we can obviously show our qualities too and get on the right end of the result.”

Losing 2-1 in Armenia in September was a big setback for Ireland, but O’Shea believes the team has performed well aside from that match having come close to holding the Portuguese to a 0-0 draw in Lisbon last month before conceding a 91st minute goal.

“Apart from that game [Armenia], I’m pretty happy with how we’ve played,” the Town skipper continued.

“I think we're finding our identity better and better. Obviously, we’ve been affected a lot by players being absent, so we’ve needed to rotate, especially in the starting XI.

“But it's been a little bit inconsistent in my opinion, both the starting XI and then performance. Good halves, worse halves, and then it’s probably that we’ve been talking about this game in Armenia. That’s probably the negative thing in all of this journey.”

O’Shea is set to win his 40th full cap, Taylor his ninth and Ogbene, who is on loan at Sheffield United for the season, his 29th, having previously netted four times at senior international level.

Sammie Szmodics is currently sidelined having undergone knee surgery, while Kasey McAteer was left out of the squad.

Elsewhere, Rio Oudnie-Morgan will be looking to win his fourth Northern Ireland U21s cap when his side host Latvia at The Oval in Belfast in a European Championship qualifier (KO 7.45pm).

The 19-year-old, who is currently on loan with Isthmian League Premier Division Billericay Town, and his Northern Irish teammates subsequently face Greece in Livadia on Tuesday.

Recent Blues academy signing Oliver Wilkinson is with the England U17s who face the US in the first of three games in Dubai this afternoon (KO 2.45pm).

Centre-half Wilkinson, 16, who joined Town from Barnsley last month, is yet to win a cap at U17s level having previously featured for the U15s and U16s, who he captained on three occasions.

The England youngsters subsequently face the Ivory Coast on Saturday and Australia on Tuesday.

Photo: Reuters

IpswichT62OldBoy added 11:09 - Nov 13 Please don't get injured Jack, I think you have become the key to our midfield.
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johnwarksshorts added 13:12 - Nov 13 Hope none of them get injured.
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