Ireland are coming into this maiden UEFA Nations League campaign under something of a cloud with Premier League midfielders Declan Rice and Harry Arter having pulled out of consideration, and James McClean now out injured.
And first up on Thursday is a clash against Wales (we'll have the game live on Off The Ball on Newstalk with Nathan Murphy and Gary Breen on commentary) and as we all remember, the last time the Boys in Green faced the Welsh in Cardiff, McClean scored a famous winner, even if that 1-0 win ultimately proved futile after a heavy World Cup playoff defeat to Denmark, our other opponents in the upcoming UEFA mini-tournament.
Wales and Celtic legend John Hartson, who played under Ireland manager Martin O'Neill in Glasgow, joined Joe Molloy to talk about his own side who are now under the managerial stewardship of former Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs.
The full chat is available on the podcast player:
"I think the system will stay the same," said Hartson on how Giggs' Wales are likely to line-up in comparison to the successful Chris Coleman era which yielded a memorable run to the Euro 2016 semi finals.
"I think the players are very comfortable with three at the back, with wing-backs. You might well see Dummett of Newcastle play at left-back [against Ireland], with Chris Gunter on the other side as a right-back.
"We might see Chris Mepham come in from Brentford, alongside James Chester and maybe Ashley Williams again who is still a big part of Ryan's squad.
"We've still got the likes of Joe Allen, Joe Ledley, Aaron Ramsey - Hal Robson-Kanu decided to call it a day, Dave Edwards has done the same, Big James Collins.
"But they've still got the likes of Gareth Bale and to add to that, you've got young Dave Brooks at Bournemouth, Harry Wilson at Derby, Ben Woodburn who's on loan at Sheffield United from Liverpool, Ethan Ampadu from Chelsea, Tom Lawrence at Derby. So you've got several youngsters who are looking to make an impact. So I think you'll see quite a lot of new personnel."
