Heimir Hallgrimsson is hopeful that a hybrid role for Séamus Coleman with the Republic of Ireland this month will encourage the former Everton captain to continue his international playing career. Coleman, who remains without a club and has said he is still considering whether to retire as a player, is not among the 24 names named for the upcoming UEFA Nations League group fixtures against Austria and Kosovo.
Instead, Coleman will take part in sessions with the squad while also combining that with a support role alongside the coaching staff.
"Hopefully that will get him to start playing again and that is our aim, to try to push him to continue playing. He has expressed that he wants to do that," Hallgrimsson said at Thursday's squad announcement.
The manager admitted there would be a temptation to get Coleman onto the pitch during the two games, but said the 38-year-old's sharpness would first need to be assessed after almost six months without a club.
"First of all, we need to see where he's at. He hasn't done a team training for some period now, so we need to see where he is at," Hallgrimsson said.
Explaining the size of the squad, Hallgrimsson said: "We have five players on a yellow, so there might be suspension for the second one, injury, etc, and we have a 24-man squad, so that's why we take 24 because of the yellow cards. And knock on wood, nobody gets injured this weekend, because everybody has a game to play."
On Coleman specifically, he added: "But obviously, (it's) tempting (given) how he did for us without playing much for Everton. (It) makes us believe he can always play for the national team and do good, but we'll have to wait and see."
Cullen, Ferguson, Umeh and Bazunu updates
Hallgrimsson said the November window had come too soon for Josh Cullen, who has stepped up his recovery from a serious knee injury sustained at the end of 2025. The Burnley midfielder marked his return with a half of football for the club's under-21s two weeks ago and has since made two substitute appearances for the first team in recent days.
"I spoke to Josh on Tuesday in London when he was playing and he is very close," Hallgrimsson said. "He is fit, but he is not maybe international fit. Not 90 minutes fit. So he wants to wait and fully get his fitness back with the staff at his club."
Evan Ferguson and Jaden Umeh both need "a little more time" after their respective injury lay-offs, Hallgrimsson said, adding: "Hopefully by March we will have everybody fit and flying."
Goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu, the only Ireland squad member who opted not to play against Israel in the last camp, is also absent for the November window, having missed the last two games for Bolton Wanderers. Hallgrimsson confirmed the nature of the injury: "It was a quad - a grade one quad I think - he's not been in two (Bolton) camps now and he won't play on Saturday. He told me he was going to be fit but that's the nature of his injury."
