It's still a while away - more than two months - but given the form of the Irish team, and the magnitude of the occasion, it is difficult not to keep Ireland v Wales at the Aviva in the back of your mind.
A good result for Ireland against the Euro 2016 semi-finalists will go a hell of a long way to securing top spot in Group D, which will bring with it the fruits of automatic qualification for the World Cup in Russia. Ireland currently top the group with ten points, with Wales in third place, four points behind.
Ireland, however, have been dealt some bad news on the injury front ahead of that game with the news today that Johnny Walters is to undergo knee surgery. Walters' knee flared up after Stoke's 4-1 defeat at Anfield on December 27th, and now he is to go under the knife in a bid to fix the problem.
Mark Hughes' hasn't but a timeframe on his recovery, with the current prognosis extremely vague, saying that Walters will be out for "weeks". While he may still be in contention to play Wales, his level of fitness will be far from ideal.
Ireland are already without Robbie Brady through suspension, having accumulated too many yellow cards, so it could be a somewhat depleted Irish side that takes on Wales.
In further bad news: Gareth Bale looks set to be fit it to face us. Bale has been out since December with an ankle injury, with the layoff expected to keep him out of action until April. The Telegraph are today reporting that Bale is returning ahead of schedule, and expects to go back to action with Real Madrid in March. The same reports states that Bale has told Chris Coleman that he will be fit to play in Dublin.
