Evan Ferguson unable to start Republic of Ireland’s home clash with Greece

Evan Ferguson won’t be fit to start for the Republic of Ireland until the Nations League matches against Finland and Greece in October, according to Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson.

The former Iceland manager only used his teenage striker for the last eight minutes of Saturday’s 2-0 loss to England at the Aviva Stadium, opting to cap Leicester’s Kasey McAteer ahead of the Brighton and Hove Albion player.

“[Ferguson] is coming back [from injury] and I’m really happy with him,” said Hallgrímsson. “He’s doing the sessions with us, and with his running numbers he’s done more this week than in previous weeks with the club, he’s improving all the time.

“Hopefully in another month he will be in better shape. The kid is willing to do the work, willing to do well. Hopefully he’ll start to play and that will quicken his fitness levels.”

Saturday was Ferguson’s first game since sustaining an ankle injury last March.

Captain Séamus Coleman will miss the visit of Greece to Dublin on Tuesday owing to the ankle injury that forced him off after an hour against England. His place in the squad will be taken by Udinese’s Festy Ebosele, who joined Watford on a season-long loan deal as the summer transfer window drew to a close.

Hallgrímsson was also asked who is picking the Ireland team these days – the Icelander or his “assistant head coach” John O’Shea?

“Like we said in the beginning, we are all in it together,” said Hallgrímsson, who also faced questions about the decision to use a five-man defence. “But I need a lot of help in the first one or two camps, not knowing the characters of the players.

“Hopefully I will learn as I go, and hopefully I will have more authority as time goes on, but I really like the staff. John and Paddy [McCarthy, the Crystal Palace assistant coach] have been fantastic, big support, and the backroom staff have been fantastic as well, and I am so grateful I am here, and we will grow for sure.”

According to the FAI, Hallgrímsson had been in discussions to replace former Ireland manager Stephen Kenny since March.

If beaten by Greece, Hallgrímsson will have begun his tenure with two competitive defeats, continuing the pattern established under his predecessor Stephen Kenny of starting campaigns poorly. Such form goes some way to explaining why Ireland have slid down the world rankings to 58th.

Greece, under new manager Ivan Jovanovic, beat Finland 3-0 in Athens on Saturday with two goals from Panathinaikos striker Fotis Ioannidis.

“They have some hold on us so hopefully we can do better than we did in the Euros campaign,” said Hallgrímsson in reference to Ireland’s home and away defeats to Greece in 2023.

The wider financial picture for Irish football continues to look bleak, with FAI president Paul Cooke using the England match programme notes to ask fans to lean on politicians for additional funding.

“If you see any of the politicians here to witness history in the making, please remind them that football is calling for real support now,” wrote Cooke, “to ensure we develop the future generations who can deliver those breath-holding moments.”

The FAI agm is next Saturday at the St Helen’s Radisson hotel in Stillorgan, when the reduction of debt from €50.9 million to €43.2 million, and how that will affect development areas of the game in Ireland, will come up for discussion.