Hallgrimsson

Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson has named his squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers with Evan Ferguson included despite struggling with an ankle problem.

The forward – on loan at Roma from Brighton, who scored in the 1-0 win against Armenia in October, picked up the injury against Parma on 29 October. However, he is included in the 25-man squad for the final two group games that begin at home to Portugal on Thursday, 13 November (19:45 GMT) before a trip to Hungary on Sunday, 16 November (14:00 GMT).

Hallgrimsson’s side go into the final round of matches in Group F sitting in third, one point behind Hungary who travel to Armenia in the first of their games, knowing qualification for the 2026 World Cup could be out of their grasp with a game to spare should they lose to runaway leaders Portugal.

Missing for that game will be Jayson Molumby and Ryan Manning through suspension, but both are included in the squad.

There is a return for Mark Sykes despite his club Bristol City revealing he would miss their next two games after sustaining a gash on his leg in Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat by Blackburn Rovers.

With Callum O’Dowda out, Jimmy Dunne retains his place in the squad after coming in as a late replacement for the October internationals, while American-born 26-year-old Kevin O’Toole receives a call-up with the left-sided New York City player eligible through his grandfather.

However, there is no call for Celtic’s Johnny Kenny – despite scoring three goals in his last two games, including the opener in the League Cup semi-final win over Rangers at the weekend – even though Hallgrimsson is without the injured Sammie Szmodics.

Republic of Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrimsson bemoaned his side’s “sloppy” and “boring” performance in their 0-0 friendly draw with Luxembourg.

Despite twice hitting the woodwork, it was a laboured performance from the Boys in Green, who lacked the intensity that was evident against Senegal in Dublin on Friday.

Hallgrimsson was disappointed with their showing against a side ranked 31 places below them by Fifa in their last game before the start of World Cup qualifying in September.

“Let’s be honest, we’re not happy with this performance,” the Icelander told RTE.

“It is good to keep a clean sheet, it’s the first one since I have come in, but we all felt the first half we were sloppy and the game was boring.

“All the good things we did against Senegal were missing, all the quick movements, the press and the ball speed. The effort was so much less than against Senegal.”