Republic of Ireland, who will be without Matt Doherty and James McClean, need to win a point against Bulgaria on Wednesday - live on Sky Sports - to avoid Nations League relegation, and potentially drop out of second pot of seeds for forthcoming 2022 World Cup qualification draw
Wednesday 18 November 2020 05:57, UK
Stephen Kenny says his sympathy primarily lies with players who have tested positive for coronavirus rather than their clubs.
Republic of Ireland and Spurs full-back Matt Doherty was forced to self-isolate after he and Republic of Ireland team-mate James McClean returned positive results after Sunday's 1-0 Nations League defeat in Wales.
Tottenham head coach Jose Mourinho expressed his displeasure at the impact the ongoing international break has had on his side.
Doherty will miss Tottenham's Premier League clash with Manchester City on Saturday - live on Sky Sports - and Mourinho posted a sarcastic Instagram message on Monday in which he said: "Amazing week of football. Great emotions in the national team matches, superb friendlies and total safety."
However, Ireland counterpart Kenny, who also lost Callum Robinson and Alan Browne to the virus a month after eight players withdrew from his squad under pandemic protocols, was more measured.
Asked about Mourinho's comments, he said: "First and foremost, I'm sympathetic towards the players themselves because it's quite traumatic for a player to get coronavirus in a situation like that and the effect on their families. I think that's lost sometimes.
"First of all, we must have a degree of sympathy for the players themselves. They put themselves out there, they sacrifice themselves. My sympathy would be to the players first of all.
"Secondly, yes, it isn't ideal for clubs, we must acknowledge that it's not ideal at all, and it's not ideal for international teams either.
"We all have to live with this situation at the moment."
Ireland confirmed on Tuesday there are no new cases ahead of Wednesday's Nations League game at home to Bulgaria.
The news will come as a relief to boss Kenny, whose side need to get a point to avoid relegation, and potentially dropping out of the second pot of seeds for the forthcoming 2022 World Cup qualification draw.
Ireland are yet to win in seven games under Kenny and have not scored in the last six, but he is adamant there are reasons to be optimistic for the future.
He said: "We've come in for a bit of criticism, and that's fair enough. That's part of the territory when you don't win games, I accept that.
"But we're building a squad of players that will be available for the World Cup qualifiers in March."
Ireland have suffered a spate of positive coronavirus tests in recent months, with Aaron Connolly and Adam Idah both missing last month's Euro 2020 play-off semi-final defeat in Slovakia for what ultimately turned out to be false-positives.
The following day, John Egan, Callum Robinson, Callum O'Dowda and Alan Browne were withdrawn from the squad to face Wales at the Aviva Stadium after another positive test within the camp.
Seamus Coleman and Enda Stevens are also missing through injury, while James McCarthy had already withdrawn from the squad for family reasons.
Kenny's resources were depleted further at the Cardiff City Stadium by Jeff Hendrick's red card and the booking that will see fellow midfielder Jayson Molumby join him on the suspension list against Bulgaria.
Shamrock Rovers pair Graham Burke and Aaron McEneff have been called up along with Millwall striker Troy Parrott and Peterborough's Jack Taylor.
