Nathan Collins has been urged to take his Wolves woe on the chin and come storming back to form with Ireland.
The centre- back became Ireland’s most expensive player of all time when he completed a €24 million move from Burnley last summer.
It came on the back of a stellar June window with Ireland when he was the standout player in four quick-fire Nations League games.
And Collins, 21, capped it off with a remarkable solo run and goal in the draw away to Ukraine in Poland.
But although he started the season as first-choice centre-back for Wolves, he has been relegated to the fringes of late as Wolves try to pull clear of the drop zone.
Collins has only made two appearances since the end of January and both of those came off the bench.
Ireland boss Stephen Kenny admits it is not ideal to have one of his key men kicking his heels on the bench ahead of the France qualifier.
But he is not pressing the panic button either, having phoned Collins yesterday to assess his state of mind going into the Latvia and France clashes.
Kenny said last night: “I was chatting to Nathan yesterday. Basically, he has played a lot of football, so it is less of a concern than for some of the other players.
“He’s sharp and young. He came on at half-time in the Tottenham game when they went to a back three and got 45 minutes there.
“And he came on (after 75 minutes) against Newcastle, so he has been coming on and he was playing regularly before that.”
Kenny continued: “When he moved first, and was doing well, the expectation was they might even build a team around him.
“So it was a bit of a setback for him to get left off. But those are the challenges of Premier League football.
“The age profile of himself and Max Kilman (25), they probably felt they were a young central defensive partnership, but I don’t know the thought process.
“Nathan is a very good player who has found himself out of the team, but he’s within touching distance of it in recent times.
“He just wants to play and he is determined to play for Wolves - that is part of who he is.”
Collins’s fellow centre-back Shane Duffy is out of the Latvia friendly and Euros qualifier with the World Cup finalists.
The big Fulham defender was in danger of missing the squad anyway due to his lack of club action - but shipped a calf injury that put paid to any chance..
Duffy was injured when the unused Fulham subs warmed down after a recent game and Kenny said: “He’s just devastated’.
As expected, Celtic winger Mikey Johnston - on loan with Portuguese top flight side Vitória Guimarães - has been included after securing international clearance.
Glasgow-born, he could make his debut against Latvia and Kenny said: “We’re good at centre backs and goalkeepers and we got some centre forwards coming through now.
“But wingers have been in short supply. He’s happy playing on the inside or the left flank."”
Will Smallbone is included after a good run of form for loan club Stoke City but Robbie Brady and Ryan Manning - both fit - miss out.
Kenny added: “Robbie is great and I’ve the height of respect for him.
“He’s had a tough journey out of the team with injuries, but he got back in and played well against Armenia overall. It’s very fine margins.”
Meanwhile, Didier Deschamps has told his France stars not to get cocky ahead of their clash with Ireland.
Les Blues were disappointed not to retain the World Cup after losing to Argentina in a thrilling final.
But they must park their frustration ahead of a Euro 2024 campaign that begins against the Netherlands next Friday, before facing Ireland in Dublin on Monday week.
Deschamps named his squad yesterday and Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana and the Nice midfielder Khephren Thuram were handed first call-ups.
Lens goalkeeper Brice Samba is also selected following the international retirements of long-serving skipper Hugo Lloris and Steve Mandanda.
Deschamps said: “It’s not easy when you’ve come so close to winning the biggest title of all. We need to feed off that, but without living in the past.
“The experience will help us, but it’s important that we don’t think we have qualified for the Euros just because we reached the World Cup final.”
Paul Pogba, N'Golo Kante, Ousmane Dembele and Christopher Nkunku are all injured while Raphael Varane has retired and Karim Benzema is no longer involved.
Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann are, as expected, included in the squad for the game in Dublin
IRELAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Gavin Bazunu (Southampton), Caoimhin Kelleher (Liverpool), Mark Travers (AFC Bournemouth).
Defenders: Seamus Coleman (Everton), Matt Doherty (Atletico Madrid), Andrew Omobamidele (Norwich City), Nathan Collins (Wolverhampton Wanderers), John Egan (Sheffield United), Dara O'Shea (West Bromwich Albion), Callum O'Dowda (Cardiff City), James McClean (Wigan Athletic).
Midfielders: Josh Cullen (Burnley), Jayson Molumby (West Bromwich Albion), Jeff Hendrick (Reading), Alan Browne (Preston North End), Jason Knight (Derby County), Will Smallbone (Stoke City, on loan from Southampton), Jamie McGrath (Dundee United), Mark Sykes (Bristol City).
Forwards: Chiedozie Ogbene (Rotherham United), Michael Obafemi (Burnley), Evan Ferguson (Brighton and Hove Albion), Adam Idah (Norwich City), Troy Parrott (Preston North End, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur), Will Keane (Wigan Athletic), Mikey Johnston (Vitoria, on loan from Celtic).
FRANCE SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Alphonse Areola (West Ham United/ENG), Mike Maignan (AC Milan/ITA), Brice Samba (Lens)
Defenders: Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid/ESP), Wesley Fofana (Chelsea/ENG), Theo Hernandez (AC Milan/ITA), Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool/ENG), Jules Kounde (Barcelona/ESP), Benjamin Pavard (Bayern Munich/GER), William Saliba (Arsenal/ENG), Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich/GER)
Midfielders: Youssouf Fofana (Monaco), Adrien Rabiot (Juventus/ITA), Aurelien Tchouameni (Real Madrid/ESP), Khephren Thuram (Nice), Jordan Veretout (Marseille)
Forwards: Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich/GER), Moussa Diaby (Bayer Leverkusen/GER), Olivier Giroud (AC Milan/ITA), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid/ESP), Randal Kolo Muani (Eintracht Frankfurt/GER), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain), Marcus Thuram (Borussia Moenchengladbach/GER)
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