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Published 10:45 13 Oct 2019 BST
Updated 15:19 13 Oct 2019 BST
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"Possibly. Possibly. But James Collins had a right old scrap against those two (centre backs) and we won some scraps off him. Whether Aaron could do what James did, I don't know. He's come on, though, and given me some nice headaches."
To us, and to legions of Irish fans, McCarthy should promote Connolly to the starting XI. Kevin Doyle is not so sure and says "stubborn" McCarthy may resist the clamour.
With Stevens back in, and joining Shane Duffy, John Egan and captain Seamus Coleman in defence, that leaves Matt Doherty over and we would put him in at right midfield.
Callum Robinson was out in that position for long stretches against Georgia and, try as he did, he was anonymous for long periods. We saw Doherty, even though he was playing off his left, push up and cause the Georgians a few problems. We would team him up with Coleman again [it was tried earlier in the campaign against Gibraltar] and give the Swiss something to think about.
Elsewhere, Jeff Hendrick is retained but Alan Browne is breathing right down his neck. If Robinson were to start ahead of McClean, on the left-hand side of midfield, we would have no issues with that.
Even though Ireland can secure their Euro 2020 spot by beating the Swiss, don't be surprised if McCarthy instructs his men to hold tight for as long as possible and see which way it lies with 20 to go.
1. Darren Randolph 2. Seamus Coleman 3. Enda Stevens 4. John Egan 5. Shane Duffy 6. Glenn Whelan 7. Conor Hourihane 8. Matt Doherty 10. Jeff Hendrick 11. James McClean 9. Aaron Connolly
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