The Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson is planning to be without Evan Ferguson for the World Cup playoff against the Czech Republic in Prague on March 26th.
Ferguson returned to Brighton last week for medical assessment, having not featured for his loan club AS Roma since January 22nd due to repetitive ankle issues despite undergoing surgery last season.
“It is going to be a challenge for Evan now, to regain fitness and match sharpness,” Hallgrímsson told The Irish Times. “He is going to visit a specialist on Friday so we will know more then but it is looking unlikely that he will be with us in March at least. We need to be prepared for that.”
Earlier this month, Ferguson’s Roma manager Gian Piero Gasperini highlighted four separate sprains, to the left and right ankles, since the 21-year-old joined the Serie A side last summer.
“This season has been a test for him psychologically,” said Hallgrímsson. “He looked really good in September. I’d never seen him so lean. He was fit. Muscular. Definitely the lightest I’d seen him since [2024]. The sharpest too.
“I thought it was a good sign going to Roma. I know they were training two times a day and that was new for him.”
Ferguson has made 22 appearances for Roma, scoring five goals, and he netted three times in four World Cup qualifiers before missing the November ties against Portugal and Hungary when Troy Parrott’s hat-trick in Budapest sent Ireland into the playoffs.
Parrott now looks certain to start as the lone striker when in Prague next month.
“It is tough because Adam Idah might have one game coming back from injury for Swansea [before the Czech match], and he won’t start, so it is unlikely Adam will be ready. Johnny Kenny is not playing much for Bolton, so hopefully he will start and start scoring. We do not have many options up front from players who are flying at the moment.”
On replacing Josh Cullen in midfield, after the Burnley skipper tore his ACL in December, Hallgrímsson is equally concerned.
“Josh has been the anchor in the team. Now we need to find a solution in a critical area, especially playing away to a Czech team that are a really physical team, especially their midfielders.
“It is going to be tricky because, at the moment, honestly, there is not many players playing well or regularly in the position and this is not the time to be doing tests or taking risks with somebody who has not been with us.”
That appears to rule out Ireland captain Nathan Collins being redeployed from defence to midfield, as he did so effectively against England in November 2024.
“So, whether it is Jason Knight, Jayson Molumby, Conor Coventry or Jack Taylor, we’ll see.
“It was the same situation in November. We’d a lot of players not playing well, or not playing, or not scoring, but we still did pretty well.”
♦ Growing up on a volcanic rock: “Both my grandparents’ houses went under the lava. I was six.” – read the full interview with Hallgrímsson in this Saturday’s Irish Times.