Advertisement League of Ireland Horse Racing TV Listings GAA Fixtures The Video Review Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture Rugby Weekly Extra Dive into all the news and analysis 3 times a week The Football Family Weekly insights from the week’s big talking points Advertisement More Stories Heimir Hallgrimsson.Ryan Byrne/INPHO FreeLooking for Work FAI hope to add more June friendlies to allow Hallgrimsson explore squad options Call-ups could be in store for the likes of Josh Honohan, Killian Phillips, Joe Hodge, John Patrick Finn, and Johnny Kenny. 11.01pm, 24 Mar 2025 Share options Gavin Cooney THE FAI ARE exploring the prospect of adding more international friendly matches to their June schedule to allow Heimir Hallgrimsson assess some more options available to him ahead of the World Cup qualifiers in September. The FAI last week announced June games against Senegal and Luxembourg, but The 42 understands they are hopeful of adding more games to allow their manager add squad depth before the World Cup campaign kicks off against Hungary in September. No additional games have yet been confirmed. Added games would allow Hallgrimsson pick an extended squad and look at some players he is monitoring but has yet to call up to a full squad, including Shamrock Rovers’ defender Josh Honohan, former Rovers’ forward Johnny Kenny, St. Mirren midfielder Killian Phillips, ex-Irish U21 captain Joe Hodge, and Spanish-born midfielder John Patrick Finn. Hallgrimsson wanted to arrange a January camp earlier this year for LOI players along with high-potential academy prospects to assess more options, but the FAI did not sign off for budgetary reasons. He says he is hopeful of staging this camp next January, pointing to the success of similar camps during his stints with Iceland and Jamaica. Advertisement An extended summer schedule would be a substitute for this, particularly as there is a window to play additional games during the League of Ireland summer break. Speaking after Sunday’s 2-1 win over Bulgaria, assistant coach John O’Shea hinted at seeing new faces in the summer. Responding to a question asking whether team selection would be more consistent from henceforth following a Nations League campaign in which Hallgrimsson picked 34 different players, O’Shea said, “There is going to be hopefully a few more surprises in the sense of more players, potentially in June.” O’Shea also praised the impact of Hallgrimsson, who has now won four of his eight matches in charge. “He’s got us winning football matches,” said O’Shea about his new boss. “It’s an important thing at international level, a key thing. His organisation, his principles, all those things you expect from a manager that’s had the experience he’s had, qualifying for major finals. “Those ideas and the simplicity in terms of certain things for certain games, understanding what things would work, what things we need to shake up the squad, in terms of maybe different players, different characters. It’s getting that balance right. “In terms of the preparation we go in beforehand, obviously we had a good bit of time after the last camp, but we were going around to games, meeting players, catching up with everyone. “Obviously at some stage we have to focus on Bulgaria, the detail you then go into then, the preparation is all done, and it’s great then that you can come into camp and you’re focusing on the players as the work is done, and you can build up the relationships in the squad. You can do that more so in camp rather than on the phone or on FaceTime. “When you’re in camp you get that relationship getting stronger and stronger with the players.” Gavin Cooney Viewcomments Send Tip or Correction Embed this post To embed this post, copy the code below on your site Email “FAI hope to add more June friendlies to allow Hallgrimsson explore squad options”. Recipient's Email Feedback on “FAI hope to add more June friendlies to allow Hallgrimsson explore squad options”. Your Feedback Your Email (optional) Report a Comment Please select the reason for reporting this comment. Please give full details of the problem with the comment... This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy before taking part. Leave a Comment Submit a report Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines. Damaging the good reputation of someone, slander, or libel. 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