The Irish will want to put behind their Euro 2012 experience from four years ago, which turned out to be a diabolical mess. All but one of the 23 man squad play in England, so there should be plenty of familiar faces. Republic of Ireland needed the play-offs to book their place at Euro 2016, meaning 23 potential boys in green to go in your fantasy football teams.
Defence
West Ham’s Darren Randolph has been starting recently for Martin O’Neill’s Republic of Ireland team and he will be joined in the net by Keiren Westwood and veteran Shay Given. 2013/14 Fantasy Premier League legend Seamus Coleman is in the squad, in spite of the thoroughly disappointing season that Everton had, although Robbie Brady and Ciaran Clark did endure relegation with Villa and Norwich so perhaps stay clear of those two. With 111 caps, John O’Shea will captain the side this summer.
Midfield
Jonathan Walters scored five goals in qualifying and scored 8 in 33 games for Stoke this season. James McClean and Aiden McGeady also scored in qualifying, with both of them notching up two goals to their names. Wes Hoolahan scored four goals and made eight assists in a poor Norwich City side, so he could be a dark horse this summer.
Attack
Robbie Keane scored 25 goals in 27 games during the MLS campaign last year for LA Galaxy and whilst it is not the most prestigious league in the world, it certainly shows that he knows where the back of the net is. Shane Long could also be a good option, as he helped Southampton achieve Europa League football, with ten goals and four assists in the Premier League.
Written by Dean Ammi (@footywriterdean)
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