KILLIAN Phillips is in line for his first Ireland start tomorrow night.
The Crystal Palace midfielder – who had an impressive season-long loan at St Mirren – won his first cap as a substitute against Senegal on Friday night.
And it appears as though the Dubliner will be rewarded for his display off the bench with a place in the starting XI against Luxembourg.
In a departure from the norm, Heimir Hallgrímsson allowed the media to stay for the entire eve-of-match training session.
Usually, journalists, photographers and camera operators are allowed in for only the first 15 minutes meaning all they see is the warm-up.
But he gave the green light for the media to stay for the full session and, as a result, saw a full 11 v 11 match after several drills.
And that gave an insight into the team Hallgrímsson is likely to pick for the final game of the season, mainly consisting of players wearing orange bibs.
If that is the case, it would mean four changes from the team which drew with Senegal with Phillips, Liam Scales, Evan Ferguson and Troy Parrott coming in for Ryan Manning, Dara O’Shea, Adam Idah and Jack Taylor.
The team in organe had Caoimhín Kelleher behind a back four of Matt Doherty, Nathan Collins, Scales and Robbie Brady.
The orange team had a midfield four of Kasey McAteer, Bosun Lawal, John Joe Patrick Finn and Will Smallbone and a forward pairing of Ferguson and Parrott.
After a water break, Josh Honohan was subbed in for Brady – and immediately floored Festy Ebosele with a firm challenge – with Josh Keely coming in for Kelleher.
Max O’Leary was between the posts for the blue team with his back four comprising Jake O’Brien, Andrew Omobamidele, O’Shea and Manning.
The midfield quartet consisted of Ebosele, Phillips, Jason Knight and Andrew Moran with Taylor supporting Idah, as he did on Friday.
But it would seem a reach for Lawal and Finn to start.
Lawal was only added to the squad at the weekend and started just one game for Stoke City in an injury-hit season, at right-back, in their final league fixture.
As recently as Thursday, Hallgrímsson said Finn had ‘to grow a little bit more as a player to be starting for Ireland. He’s done well in training but we see he needs to improve in certain areas.”
Therefore, it seems likely that it will be the team in orange bibs – bar the central midfield pairing – which will take the field against Luc Holtz’s side.
Phillips, 23, is a classic late developer. Having been overlooked by League of Ireland academies, he was still playing in the DDSL with Kilbarrack United before being signed by Drogheda United in 2020.
He had to wait until the following season to make the breakthrough at first-team level but his form resulted in a move to Palace in January 2022.
He has yet to play for their first team but has gained considerable experience during loan spells with Shrewsbury Town, Wycombe Wanderers, Aberdeen and St Mirren.
Of the five uncapped squad members – O’Leary, Keeley, Honohan, Finn and Lawal – the Bristol City keeper and versatile Shamrock Rovers player look most likely to win their first cap off the bench.
IRELAND (probable): Kelleher (Brentford); Doherty (Wolves), Collins (Brentford), Scales (Celtic), Brady (Preston North End); McAteer (Leicester City), Phillips (Crystal Palace), Knight (Bristol City), Smallbone (Southampton); Parrott (AZ Alkmaar), Ferguson (Brighton).
