Stephen Kenny has addressed the speculation regarding his future as Ireland manager by insisting that he expects to be in charge of Ireland at least until the end of the Euro 2024 campaign.
Kenny is under pressure following a disappointing 2-1 defeat away to Greece last Friday night.
The Boys in Green are expected to bounce back on Monday with a win over group minnows Gibraltar.
But even a comfortable victory won’t put to bed the rumours of unrest within elements of the FAI hierarchy, ahead of September’s double-header away to France and at home to the Netherlands.
Asked if he expected to remain in charge for the rest of the campaign, Kenny said: “Yeah, I definitely do. My contract is up till the end of the campaign and whether it’s renewed will depend on how people feel the campaign went overall.
“But certainly I fully expect to be. We want a positive result tomorrow and that’s firmly what I’m focused on.”
He added that anything other than a win against Gibraltar would be unthinkable, “in terms of European Championship qualification.”
Kenny insisted that the criticism levelled at him and his team in the wake of the Athens reversal hadn’t affected him.
“It’s irrelevant, to be honest it’s irrelevant, I just really focus on developing the team and preparing the team for tomorrow,” he said, when asked how he was able to cope with the barbs.
“There is a lot of criticism, some of it justified, and I have to accept that. Likewise some of it is inaccurate, that’s the nature of it.
“From my point of view, I’m not fixated with it. I’m just firmly focused on what we have to do and just focused on the task at hand which is managing this group of players.
“We’re not perfect but I really believe in the players. I believe in the players, I know people have other viewpoints but I believe in the players.
“It’s not perfect that a lot of them are not playing at their clubs, that’s been really tough for them.
“Some of our better players are not playing for their clubs and that’s been difficult.
“But that’s not an excuse, we wanted to win against Greece, we didn’t win. That’s a reality.
“Other players that should be in the team but they haven’t been playing for so long and they’re amongst our most talented is a sense of frustration but that’s the reality.
“It’s very hard to come out of not playing for months and months and play at international level, particularly a game of the intensity of the other night. That's the reality.
“But I believe in the players that we've got, we've got a really talented group coming through.
“We're really disappointed the other night, if we had won the other night against Greece everything would have been on track, we'd have been going into the Gibraltar game with everything great.
“Now, because we didn't, it's a catastrophe, and I do get that, but we've got to focus on tomorrow and Gibraltar, make sure we are ready.
“I know the games were tight previously so we have to just get ourselves ready and make sure we get a home victory.”
Addressing Friday’s defeat, he added: “Greece played well on the night, I think, two teams are probably ranked along similar lines. I think they had more experience, I feel we’ve more potential.
“It’s a narrow defeat, a very, very narrow defeat, we lost by a goal. We just have to make sure we respond well and win on Monday and in the games coming up.
“We’ve got to respond well. They’ve still got to come to Dublin so that will be a different situation.”
He refused to divulge any potential changes to formation or personnel ahead of the visit of Gibraltar - although there will be a start for James McClean.
And the former Derry City man will also wear the captain’s armband on the occasion of his 100th cap.
Kenny, meanwhile, remains hopeful that Ireland can get back into the qualification picture.
“It'd have been a lot easier if we had won on Friday, we made life difficult for ourselves and we are just going to have to get some exceptional results between now and the end of the season,” he said.
“France I think will win the group, that's pretty clear, Greece have to play Holland twice, we have to play Holland twice, play Greece in Dublin so there's still a lot of football to be played.
“I said at the time of the draw there are four teams that are capable of qualifying.
“They all got to play each other. We got to take the set back on the chin and bounce back, get a victory tomorrow and take it from there.”
Kenny added: “Gibraltar is a match we are looking to win, it is a game we have to win if we are serious about qualifying.
“There is no point in discussing anything beyond that at the moment. We'll focus on that and make sure we are ready.”
READ NEXT:
Stephen Kenny back in firing line as Ireland's Euro 2024 qualification hopes all but end in Athens
Emmet Brennan ready for professional ranks as he aims to put post-Olympics struggles behind him
Conor McGregor breaks social media silence after denying claims he sexually assaulted woman
Liam Brady blasts Ireland squad as the 'worst group of players in my lifetime' in damning assessment
Olympian Sarah Lavin's heartbreak over the loss of her partner Craig Breen
Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts
