Seamus Coleman is a serious doubt for the Ireland starting line-up which faces France tomorrow night Euro in the 2024 qualifier at the Aviva Stadium.
However, manager Stephen Kenny is refusing to give up hope on the Killybegs man being fit for the game.
The absence of Coleman from media proceedings was taken as evidence that a thigh problem had ruled him out of the match but the manager gave a different message.
“No, he is not ruled out,” said Kenny, when asked about Coleman’s prospects. “We will have to see how today goes. We train today.
“I wouldn’t like to get drawn into percentages but certainly Séamus is a very good player.
“It’s not so much his experience, it’s that he’s playing well himself at the moment.
“Experience is a factor but his performances for Everton have been very good.
“For footballing reasons, he merits his place in the team because he has been playing very well for Everton and had an injury free run and been able to train regularly over the last number of months.”