'It's been tough for him' - Stephen Kenny confirms Aaron Connolly is ruled out of Ireland's must-win Luxembourg clash

Aaron Connolly has been ruled out of Ireland's World Cup qualifier with Luxembourg and Tuesday's friendly with Qatar.

Connolly has returned to Brighton after receiving a negative assessment on the knock he suffered in Wednesday's 3-2 defeat to Serbia.

There was brief confusion at Kenny's pre-match press conference ahead of the Luxembourg clash where he appeared to be unaware the FAI had already formally confirmed Connolly would be absent before deleting the tweet - but it was subsequently clarified that the Galwegian was out of the equation and an Instagram post from the player back in Brighton confirmed as much.

The Galwegian was a doubt for that match after an interrupted build-up and a spell on the sidelines with Brighton due to a fractured rib and Stephen Kenny must now plan without him for tomorrow's visit of Luxembourg to the Aviva Stadium

His 67-minute appearance was his first outing since February 27 and he was feeling the effects of cramp and what appeared to be a calf issue before his withdrawal.

Connolly was assessed in the Irish team hotel last night after a recovery day, with the team back training fully today in a quick turnaround ahead of the Aviva Stadium encounter.

James Collins and Shane Long have been on standby in case Connolly missed out although Kenny could opt to rejig his formation regardless. He was keen to use Connolly in central areas and he felt his partnership with Callum Robinson was a good fit for a 3-5-2 approach.

However, the Ireland boss may look to go with a central striker and two wide players against Luxembourg which would also potentially bring James McClean and Robbie Brady into the equation as left-sided options.

Kenny said he had sympathy with Connolly's position given his recent injury record, stressing he will go on to become a very important player for his country. The fact he cramped up against the Serbs while also sustaining a foot problem adds to the list.

"It does sort of reflect I suppose his recent injury history, that's the issue, and it's obviously affected his training patterns because he had a rib injury so he couldn't train for a number of weeks and before that he had a sort of intermittent hamstring injury," said Kenny.

"It has affected his training but, listen, he's a terrific prospect, gives everything, played through the pain barrier, he's someone who is going to be a very, very good player for Ireland, someone that we know can play in a few positions for us and had that acceleration, pace and ability to potentially score goals for Ireland. That's something we should cherish.

"He's just been unlucky really. He's been unfortunate with injuries - a fractured rib, an impact injury on the foot and the hamstring injury. These are three separate injuries in a four or five-month period so it's difficult for him to contend with that.

"He loves playing for his country, he's really determined, knew that he wanted to make an impact in this World Cup campaign so it's been tough for him."

Meanwhile, Luxembourg have leaned on their government to intervene in a row over release of players for international duty and they will now have key midfielder Vincent Thill available.

The 36-times-capped player, one of three Thill brothers in the squad to face Ireland, had been denied permission by his Portuguese employer Nacional to report for the national team, with his Madeira-based club claiming that the player would have to quarantine upon his return and miss key games in their relegation battle.

But after representations from Luxembourg’s foreign ministry, their embassy in Lisbon and an appeal to FIFA, the club have reluctantly agreed to release Thill and he will join the squad in Dublin today in time for a training session at the Aviva Stadium tonight.

Yet there was a blow for Luxembourg as Dutch-based defender Mica Pinto picked up an injury in Wednesday’s friendly defeat to Qatar and misses out. Luxembourg, ranked 98th in the world, come to Dublin on a run of three defeats and a draw in their last four games.

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