Jim Crawford says he wouldn’t be surprised if some of his Under-21 stars were promoted to the senior squad in November.
Stephen Kenny’s side will host Norway on Thursday November 17 before travelling to Malta for a friendly three days later.
And Crawford reckons a few of his European Championship hopefuls could be involved.
The Under-21 boss managed to hold onto his players for the two-legged play-off against Israel, which kicks off on Friday night in Tallaght Stadium.
But he said: “I think it is a matter of time.
“Now, I am not so sure, although Stephen has asked about certain players - he has asked to keep it private - but there are players who are definitely on his radar.
“That might be a case in November, where we've no games (at Under-21 level) and it might be an opportunity to experiment with certain players with the friendlies that were just announced.
“But, with the group that got us this far, I was confident we would keep the names you said there (for the play-offs), be it Will Smallbone, Conor Coventry, Evan Ferguson.”
If Ireland do qualify for the European Championships, Crawford expects to have his strongest available squad for the finals.
But he won’t panic if some of his top stars have already made the step up to senior level by then.
“I don't know how Stephen operates but if Evan Ferguson is playing first-team football with Brighton and he is scoring goals I'd say there is every chance he will get a senior call-up,” he said.
“Same goes for Will Smallbone, who is doing very, very well at Stoke City at the minute so come the finals next June, who knows?
“Again, as everybody has seen what is happening here, Stephen brought up 10 players.
“But that opened the door for other players to show their worth and they have done, we have got to the play-offs.
“So when June comes, if Stephen takes up certain players from this particular squad, it is an opportunity for other players to shine.”
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