The Republic of Ireland will return to action later this week, where Stephen Kenny will be hoping to rescue what has been a very poor Euro 2024 qualifying campaign up to this point. The Irish boss will likely need to win both games convincingly in order to have any chance of being retained in his role beyond the end of the year, meaning he could look to shake things up when it comes to team selection after some disastrous performances in recent times.
Quite a few of his first choice players have been short on form this season, with some fringe squad members performing well for their clubs.
With that in mind, we have decided to put an Ireland together based only on club form since the start of the campaign.
A couple of notes here. Firstly we are not taking into account slight injuries that players may currently have, meaning players who will not feature for Ireland are eligible for selection if they have been playing well recently.
Secondly, we are not saying this is the Ireland team we would actually select for a game, instead removing any previous international form from the equation and giving each player a blank slate starting in August of this year.
With that in mind, here's what we came up with.
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The best current Ireland XI based on club form
GK: Mark Travers (Stoke City)
Gavin Bazunu has played well over the last couple of weeks, but having had a very difficult start to the season, Mark Travers has probably produced a better body of work over the course of the campaign so far.
On loan from Bournemouth, he has immediately established himself as no. 1 at Stoke. Despite being at the wrong end of the table, he has conceded less goals and kept the same number of clean sheets in comparison to Bazunu.
RB: Festy Ebosele (Udinese)
Previously a position of strength for Ireland, the squad's options at right back are looking pretty shallow at the minute. Seamus Coleman is still out injured, while Matt Doherty is continuing to find playing time hard to come by after his return to Wolves.
In contract, Festy Ebosele is going from strength to strength at Udinese. He has featured in all eight of the club's Serie A games so far this season, starting in six of them.
While the team has struggled as a whole, the Wexford man has impressed with some of his performances.
CB: Nathan Collins (Brentford)
Nathan Collins has been the most consistent Irish centre back for a couple of years now, with John Egan his only competition in that regard. With Sheffield United struggling after their return to the Premier League, the Kildare man retinas that honour for now.
He has put in some impressive displays since making the £23.5million move to Brentford and you would imagine that he will only improve as the season goes on as he gets more comfortable in his new surroundings.
Only Josh Cullen has played more minutes among Irish players in the Premier League this season.
CB: Liam Scales (Celtic)
Liam Scales has experienced a remarkable change in fortunes at Celtic in recent weeks. Having looked likely to leave the club during the summer, he has suddenly established himself as a key cog in the team under Brendan Rodgers.
His performances in both domestic and European competitions have been excellent and he is all but certain to make his Ireland debut during the upcoming international window.
LB: Ryan Manning (Southampton)
While Ryan Manning has not quite hit the heights of the last couple of seasons so far in the current campaign, he is still the most in-form Irish left back at the moment.
He has played the full 90 minutes in all but one of Southampton's Championship fixtures this season, picking up a pair of assists along the way.
CM: Jason Knight (Bristol City)
Jason Knight has excelled since his move to Bristol City during the summer, winning the player of the month award in August.
He has started all 11 of their Championship fixtures this season, all from a central area. He looks set to play a big role for Ireland once again over the coming days.
CM: Alan Browne (Preston North End)
Quite a few of Ireland's midfielders have been short of their regular performance level so far this season. Josh Cullen has struggled since his return to the Premier League with Burnley, while Jayson Molumby has found himself in and out of the West Brom team at times.
Alan Browne has never been the most eye-catching Irish player, but he continues to be one of the most consistent with his performances at Preston. Captaining the side, he is one of the most versatile and valuable players at the club.
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CAM: Sammie Szmodics (Blackburn Rovers)
Sammie Szmodics has without doubt been the standout Irish player in the Championship this season.
Splitting his time between attacking midfield and more attacking roles, he currently sits top of the division scoring charts with seven goals and two assists.
It was bizarre to see him left out of the Ireland squad for the upcoming games, although he has now been called up after an injury suffered by Aaron Connolly. It would be interesting to see him get some playing time during one of the two fixtures this month.
RW: Chiedozie Ogbene (Luton Town)
Chiedozie Ogbene has yet to be given consistent playing time since his move to Luton Town, but he has impressed during whatever opportunities he has been given on the pitch. Last weekend provided the latest example, with the Cork man being their best player during the unfortunate loss to Spurs.
Considering this is his first stint in the Premier League, you'd have to be impressed with how the winger has coped so far. You would guess that he will only become more important for Luton as the campaign goes on.
ST: Evan Ferguson (Brighton & Hove Albion)
At 18-years old, Evan Ferguson might already be the best Irish player in the game at the moment. His form to being the season was exceptional, and while his last few games have been affected by injury and illness, he has still been a quality operator in the Premier League.
He is without doubt the player that opposition teams will focus on the most whenever they play Ireland.
LW: Aaron Connolly (Hull City)
Aaron Connolly's rejuvenation at Hull has been one of the best Irish stories so far this season. The forward has gone through a very difficult spell over the last couple of years, but he has quickly rediscovered his form after joining the club on a permanent basis during the summer.
He has scored five goals in less than 600 Championship minutes, equating to a goal every less than 1.5 full games. He has been forced to withdraw from the Ireland squad this month due to a knock, but he is now very much back in the international picture.
The Team In Full
This is a fairly different side to the one Stephen Kenny would consider to be his first choice XI, pointing towards the amount of fringe players that are making their case for selection this season.
It will be interesting to see how many of them will be given the opportunity to impress against Greece and Gibraltar.
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