Séamus Coleman remains in limbo between player and coach ahead of Ireland’s trip to Austria

Séamus Coleman took a full part in training with Ireland at Abbotstown on Wednesday morning but it is unclear exactly what role, if any, he will play in Saturday’s Nations League game against Austria in Linz.

John O’Shea, Ireland’s assistant head coach, subsequently confirmed that the veteran defender’s hybrid role in camp does not include any involvement in the coaches’ tactical meetings. The 38-year-old Coleman has been without a club since he left Everton last summer.

“That’s up for the boss [Heimir Hallgrímsson] to decide,” said O’Shea, when asked if Coleman could feature against Austria or at home to Kosovo next Tuesday.

“We will discuss that after the next couple of sessions. First and foremost, we wanted to get the benefit of Séamus training with the team,” said O’Shea.

“When he is involved in the session, it is enormous. When he is taking part in the coaching of the players during the session, he organises, whether that be 11 v 11s or short possession games. Just the information he is able to give to the younger players, where to be, where not to be, runs etc, he is always a key part in it.”

The other 24 Ireland players also trained this morning. The main selection calls facing Hallgrímsson and O’Shea, besides Coleman, is whether to keep Finn Azaz in a holding midfield role, where he can initiate the play, to allow Adam Idah and Jack Moylan continue in an attacking front three behind Troy Parrott.

Azaz started as a “number six” for the 2-2 draw with Austria in Dublin last month. Hallgrímsson subsequently decided to pull him from the two matches against Israel when Conor Coventry and Jayson Molumby started in midfield.

Dara O’Shea captained Ireland in the last window due to the unavailability of Nathan Collins (calf) and Coleman.

“It’s great to have them back,” said O’Shea, the Ipswich Town club captain. “It would have been great if they were there in the last camp as well, but we had some really good people in that last camp who were doing great things.

“We have good leaders and good lads in the group. We’ve got a lot of lads who are captains at their clubs. It’s a good environment to be in at the moment, especially with the characters we have.”

Ireland will top the group by beating both Austria and Kosovo. This would secure promotion to League A and a second seeding ahead of the Euro 2028 qualifier draw in Belfast on December 6th.

After losing 1-0 to Kosovo in Pristina, the team produced arguably their best opening 25 minutes since Hallgrímsson took over in 2024, scoring three goals against Israel in Debrecen only 24 hours after a player vote narrowly decided to fulfil the fixture.

“We came together really well as a group in that camp,” said Dara O’Shea. “We felt that we could produce a performance like that and we did.

“Everyone was really inspired and the feeling on the pitch was one of wanting to go again.

“That relentlessness and how we approached it is a lot of the DNA in us as Irish people. We’re really effective when we play that way.”

A similar performance was repeated in the opening 45 minutes against Austria at the Aviva before they looked flat and exhausted in the second tie with Israel. The 1-1 result behind closed doors in Serbia left Ireland third in the group, level on points with Kosovo. Austria are three points clear at the top.