CJ Hamilton and Festy Ebosele have been called up to the Ireland squad for the first time ahead of the four upcoming Nations League games.
And Michael Obafemi returns from the cold, almost four years after making his debut away to Denmark under Martin O’Neill.
Aaron Connolly is not included while injured pair Adam Idah and Andrew Omobamidele are still not available for selection.
Veterans like Darren Randolph and Shane Long are - as expected - omitted along with Robbie Brady who hasn’t played enough games for Bournemouth.
But skipper Seamus Coleman is available for the trip to Armenia next weekend after overcoming a slight groin issue.
Swansea City striker Obafemi raised eyebrows earlier in the year when he claimed he only wanted to be selected for senior duty rather than the Under-21s.
But Kenny insists there are no issues with the striker and said: “Listen, if everyone was the same, life would be dull.
“Michael is a charismatic guy and I know he's very proud to play for Ireland and he's excited about coming in.
“It's the first time in his career that he's had a run of consecutive games.
“It's very hard for young players in the Premier League to get that, just the standard is so high and the squads are so big.
“So the move to Swansea, which is a great club and a great platform to really do well in the Championship, you can see really the improvement in his play.”
Kenny explained: “I've seen aspects of his play that I haven't seen previously with Swansea.
“His hold-up play has really come on well and he's shown great football intelligence allied to the natural speed that he has got.
“The performances I've seen recently with Swansea are better than I've ever seen from him, so his rate of improvement has been very high.
“He doesn't take penalties and he's scored (11 goals in his last 19 games, and 12 for the season) so he's done very well.
Blackpool winger CJ Hamilton, 27, is English-born but his mother is Irish and he grew up in Waterford.
Kenny said: “He lived his first 14 years at Waterford and played in the Kennedy Cup for Waterford, but then he went to England.
“He came the road less travelled, coming through the Conference in England for a couple of years and up through League Two, League One and into the Championship.
“He's a very, very quick left winger with a lot of pace. He plays on the right as well, he can play on either wing for Blackpool, and he has a very good attitude.”
And while new Udinese signing Ebosele was used as a right wing-back for a lot of Derby County’s season, Kenny sees the Wexford lad as being more attack minded.
Kenny added: “Not every game he has played has been perfect, he’s still learning, but his speed really frightens players.
“I see the pitch being big in these games - against Ukraine and Scotland nobody is going to sit in.”
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