O’Shea is firmly in the frame

Rep of Ireland v Switzerland KO 7.45pm

JOHN O’SHEA is thinking no further ahead than tonight’s friendly against Switzerland amid speculation he could become permanent Republic of Ireland manager after all.

After O’Shea was placed in interim charge last month, the FAI’s director of football Marc Canham revealed that Stephen Kenny’s successor would be named in early April, and that an announcement had been delayed by “existing contractual obligations”. That appeared to rule O’Shea (above) out of the running – something leading candidate Lee Carsley has himself done since. But the way O’Shea has conducted himself during his temporary spell at the helm and the response of his players in Saturday’s 0-0 friendly draw with Belgium have prompted suggestions he could be handed the job on a longerterm basis.

Asked about the speculation ahead of the clash with the Swiss, O’Shea said: “My remit was to focus on these two games.

“If my remit beforehand was, ‘John, you’re the fulltime new manager’, it might have been a different situation.

“Two games, I am focused on that, get the best from the boys, bring this group together with the staff, getting the lads to know my staff as quickly as possible, and getting the bond together quickly, going into two games where you know you’ll face challenges.

‘‘But two games where you know you can get good results, too.”

As things stand, O’Shea, who won 118 caps for his country, will be out of work again tomorrow morning.

But he added: “Let’s wait and see. Hopefully there will be a few things happening.”