Republic of Ireland v England: John O’Shea says he never indulges in ‘what ifs’ over Declan Rice

O’Shea said that the Irish, under new boss Heimir Hallgrimsson, can’t afford to become preoccupied with Rice given the array of talent in the England squad.

“When you play a team that have just been in a Euros final, you know they have lots of threats, they have lots of options to pick from.

“The full focus from our point of view is what we can do to stop them and more importantly, what we can do to cause them problems.”

The connections between the squads is further increased by ex-Republic of Ireland midfielder Lee Carsley now being in interim charge of the England side.

Carsley has stepped up from the Under-21 side following the departure of Gareth Southgate and has an opportunity to stake a claim for the role full-time.

“It’s nothing for us to worry about,” reiterated O’Shea.

“Our focus is on the start of the Nations League, the manager coming in, Heimir, and that we give him our full backing, our full support, and hopefully get off to a good start.”