Hallgrimsson Anticipates ‘Steel and Leadership’ from Recalled Defender Shane Duffy

Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson has expressed his expectation that seasoned defender Shane Duffy will contribute “steel and leadership” following his re-inclusion in the national squad. Duffy is set to participate in the upcoming Nations League fixtures against Finland and England. The 32-year-old central defender is part of the 23-player roster for the Group B2 encounters. These include a match against the Finns scheduled for 14 November at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, followed by an away game at Wembley three days subsequent. His sole appearance for the Republic over the last year occurred in June, during a 2-1 friendly triumph against Hungary, when John O’Shea was serving as interim head coach. Duffy currently plays for Norwich City. Duffy’s strong performances for his club in the Championship have led to his return to the squad. His national team manager believes that the defender, who has earned 61 caps, can supply attributes that the Irish team lacked during their victory against Finland and subsequent loss to Greece in the previous international window in October. Hallgrimsson stated, “I wanted to see the upcoming exciting younger centre-backs so in the beginning we went for younger players but I felt – especially last camp and before – there were some areas we can improve.” He further explained, “For example, we lost a lot of duels, especially against Greece in the first half, and his leadership, his character will probably help us in that area.” Hallgrimsson added, “It’s good to see what he brings in and I hope they will be the attributes he will come in with, with leadership, a little bit more steel and winning duels, especially set-pieces, etc.” Hallgrimsson will not have Ipswich forward Chiedozie Ogbene available for the forthcoming double-header. Ogbene is expected to be sidelined for as long as eight months following Achilles surgery, an injury sustained during Ipswich’s Premier League match against Brentford in late October. “It seems to be happening more and more that players get long-term injuries. I don’t know if it’s because of the load on players,” Hallgrimsson commented. He continued, “I know he is strong enough to come back mentally. It’s just how physically he will react to this. Hopefully his recovery will be good.” Nevertheless, the Republic manager does have the adaptable 22-year-old defender Festy Ebosele at his disposal. Ebosele, a Watford player on loan from Serie A club Udinese, has made a positive impression on Hallgrimsson through his performances for both his club and national team. Hallgrimsson described him, saying, “Festy is a little bit of a different kind of player – really exciting. He can do things that really blow your mind.” He elaborated, “The last game for Watford he played right-back for the first half and left-back for the second half and was good at both.” Hallgrimsson concluded, “He is really good going forward and there aren’t many that have his speed. He can play a lot of roles. In the Greece game he started as a winger and ended up as a full-back. It’s good to have a player that you can move and tweak during a game.”