We can smell the anticipation already. Not necessarily a good thing of course but Euro 2016 is almost here. Sure, there's still the best part of three months to go but now that we've reached the pre-tournament friendlies, it's really starting to all kick into gear.
For months now we've been speculating about which players were performing, which players weren't performing and which players Martin O'Neill would pick anyway. An awful lot of that depended on these two games against Switzerland and Slovakia. Will Alan Judge prove his worth on the international stage? Can Shane Duffy come in and prove there's another option at centre back? Who the hell is our number one keeper?
Plenty of questions and not a whole lot of answers so far. Hopefully, we'll start to get some of them tonight. And with that in mind we thought it only right to start doubting and second guessing Martin O'Neill before he ever gets a chance to name his team tonight.
Goalkeeper
We already know it's going to be Randolph starting one of these games and Elliot starting the other but if we're giving precedence to the Swiss game then we'd ideally like to see the Elliot being given the nod. It's good news already for Elliot this week after the Ireland boss dropped a fairly substantial hint that starting in the Premier League is a fairly good way to go about starting for Ireland.
Elliot needs games in an Ireland jersey. He's been the chap you bring along for the fun of it for a couple of years now. Understandably, that's also seen him head back to Newcastle once or twice with a slight niggle but now it's time to see exactly what he has to offer in a genuine sense.
It seems strange to think of Randolph as the incumbent given that he only has six caps to his name but now that Elliot is starting for Newcastle, it's time to really give him a chance and there's no time like the present.
Defence
Duffy, Duffy, Duffy, Duffy. We've been talking about him for quite a few months now as the man to come in and show us that there are competent Irish centre backs waiting to make their move into O'Neill's squad. It's by far our most worrying area heading into the summer and although, the likes of Keogh, Wilson and Clark are adequate, we'd dearly love to see some pressure on those squad positions.
Alex Pearce and Paul McShane are also in the squad but it's Shane Duffy who we're most looking forward to seeing. It's about time he added to his one Ireland cap and it would be great to see O'Neill throw him in alongside John O'Shea tonight to see how they deal with a more than decent Swiss attack.
Keogh and O'Shea are the go-to partnership at this moment in time but there's no reason why we can't look to do better and that starts tonight with Duffy being given as lengthy runout.
At left back, Stephen Ward deserves another run-out to prove that, now that he's match fit, there's no need to continue with the Brady experiment and as, we're putting a bit more importance on this game than the Slovakian one, we'd like to see Seamus Coleman from the start with either one of Christie or Doherty given a decent chance to impress in the second half.
Midfield
McCarthy and Whelan are both guaranteed starting spots this summer to the extent that there's really no need to start them together in either of these two friendlies. However, with the withdrawal of both Hendrick and Arter, Ireland's options in the centre have been significantly reduced.
As things stand, we have David Meyler, Stephen Quinn, Eunan O'Kane and Stephen Gleeson waiting in the wings. You'd like to think that, over the two games, each of the above will get a chance to impress but, as things stand, it's Meyler that has the most to gain (and lose). With the options available to O'Neill it seems unlikely that Quinn, O'Kane or Gleeson will be heading to France. Meyler however, is currently waiting to book his seat on the place.
Arter's withdrawal in particular has put the onus on the Cork man to make one of the final midfield spots his own. Start him alongside McCarthy and give him the chance to prove that he can really affect things going forward.
Out wide it's all about Aiden McGeady. There'll be plenty of fans sick at the thought of it, but McGeady should go to France, he just needs to prove to O'Neill that he's right to back him. His move to Sheffield Wednesday has been a bit of an anti-climax but nonetheless, he has the opportunity to get some game time and there's no reason why O'Neill won't help him along in that regard tonight. Get him out there, get him into attacking positions and get his confidence back up before we need him from the bench and he's no longer there.
On the other wing, if Ward can fill in at left back then it's only right to give Brady a chance to pick up his form from the game against Bosnia and once again prove that he's a hell of a lot more valuable to Ireland when he's going forward than he is when he's defending.
Attack
We're almost at the point of calling this the Alan Judge series of friendlies. The Wes Hoolahan role needs a deputy and while O'Neill may well still call upon Harry Arter, Judge has more than proved that he deserves his chance to become the bolter that so many are expecting him to be. At 27, it's late to be getting his first cap but his form for Brentford has been such that it's been impossible for Martin O'Neill to leave him out.
Get him in behind Shane Long tonight and give him the best possible chance to show why he's so highly rated in the Championship this year.
Desired Ireland team to face Switzerland:
