Republic of Ireland welcome Greece to the Aviva Stadium for their final home qualifying match of the campaign on Friday night.
Ireland will be looking to take maximum points in this window against Greece and Gibraltar to have any hope of remaining in the automatic qualification race for UEFA EURO 2024.
Greece travel to Dublin having secured a 2-1 win over Ireland in Athens in June and Stephen Kenny's side will be looking to avenge that result tomorrow night.
Forward Sammie Szmodics has withdrawn from the squad due to family reasons. Otherwise, Stephen Kenny has a fully fit 23-man squad to choose from with Alan Browne recovering from illness earlier in the week.
Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny has welcomed the challenge of Greece in Dublin this Friday.
“It's going to be a real epic battle, Greece have been consistent over the last couple of seasons and we've got to produce a big performance to win. We can look at Gibraltar after that and then take it into the next window,"he said. “At the moment, we're just firmly focused on Friday because it is a big challenge for us on Friday and one that we must rise to. I know the players are very determined to put in a strong performance and get that victory that we need.
"The atmosphere at the home games has been really electric, people realise it's a special occasion, Ireland playing at home, we want to finish the group strongly, we are still in contention for automatic qualification.
“It's not in our own hands, we are relying on results elsewhere, we have to see if we can take it to the November window and the only way we can do that is by taking six points from this window."
𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇-𝐃𝐀𝐘
⚽️ | Ireland v Greece
🏆 | @EURO2024 Qualifying
⌚️ | 7:45pm (Irish time)
📍 | @AVIVAStadium
🎟️ | https://t.co/zKdy3rlLsy
📺 | @RTESoccer
Friday night under the lights 🤩🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/eYfsJ2plJo— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) October 13, 2023
Ireland's Shane Duffy has also backed the younger members of the Irish squad to step up in this international window
"It is a young team. Me and Matt (Doherty) are now the oldest. It is a new role I suppose but very enjoyable trying to keep up with the young lads,"said Duffy.
"I suppose it is up to us to lead by example around the place and try and guide where possible, I try and do it anyway when Seamus (Coleman) is in and even John (Egan).
"We're missing a few big characters around the place but the younger boys are their own characters in their own ways. I don't look at them as young lads anymore, they're very experienced around the place now.
"It is an enjoyable group, I've really enjoyed the week and just looking forward to the game." Republic of Ireland Squad - Greece/GibraltarGoalkeepers: Gavin Bazunu (Southampton), Mark Travers (Stoke City, on loan from AFC Bournemouth), Max O'Leary (Bristol City).Defenders: Matt Doherty (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Festy Ebosele (Udinese), Nathan Collins (Brentford), Shane Duffy (Norwich City), Dara O'Shea (Burnley), Andrew Omobamidele (Nottingham Forest), Liam Scales (Celtic), Ryan Manning (Southampton).Midfielders: Josh Cullen (Burnley), Jayson Molumby (West Bromwich Albion), Alan Browne (Preston North End), Will Smallbone (Southampton), Jason Knight (Bristol City), Jamie McGrath (Aberdeen), Mark Sykes (Bristol City).Forwards: Evan Ferguson (Brighton and Hove Albion), Adam Idah (Norwich City), Chiedozie Ogbene (Luton Town), Callum Robinson (Cardiff City), Mikey Johnston (Celtic).Fixtures - UEFA EURO 2024 Qualifiers 13/10 - Republic of Ireland v Greece, Aviva Stadium, 7.45pm 16/10 - Gibraltar v Republic of Ireland, Estádio Algarve, 7.45pm (Irish Time)
Match DetailsFixture: Republic of Ireland v GreeceCompetition: UEFA EURO 2024 Qualifying Date: Friday, October 13Kick-off: 7.45pmVenue: Aviva StadiumTV: RTE Match OfficialsReferee: Gleen Nyberg (SWE)Assistant Referee 1: Mahbod Beigi (SWE)Assistant Referee 2: Andreas Söderqvist (SWE)Fourth Official: Adam Ladebäck (SWE)Video Assistant Referee: Tomasz Kwiatkowski (POL)Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Bartosz Frankowski (POL)
See More: Euro 2024, Greece, Ireland
