Fulham defender Stephen Kelly is expected to start for the Republic of Ireland on Friday evening in a crucial first leg Euro 2012 Qualifier against Estonia in Tallinn.
With Sunderland defender John O'Shea's ruled out through injury, Kelly is firm favourite to get the nod from manager Giovanni Trapattoni. The Fulham defender is clearly relishing the opportunity to play in the finale to Ireland’s qualifying campaign after playing an integral role in helping his team reach the play-offs.
"Any time there's been an opportunity for the manager to play me, he's done so," Kelly explained ahead of Friday's match. "I played left back in last game (against Armenia) and right-back before that against Russia.
"I've played a lot of big games in this campaign. This has been the campaign that I've been able to show myself, really get to grips with it and make an impact. Hopefully, I'm able to do that in Estonia.
"We're on the brink of a playing at major tournament and these two are the games that will get us there. If I do get to play, hopefully it's a game I have fond memories of.
"We are capable of getting a result over there and we won't deviate from the sensible style of football that has got us here.
"We'll continue being hard to beat, which has seen us concede one goal in 9 games. I managed to play in 7 of those games and, if we continue that way, I can see us qualifying.
"The manager will have us well schooled going into Friday's game. I played against the Estonian goalkeeper a few weeks ago for my club and he was decent.
"We're not expecting just to turn up and win this game. I'm not being cocky; we're not going in thinking that the game is just going to be a walkover but we'll go in with the feeling and the attitude that we can win the game.
"It would be a special achievement to go on and qualify from these two games."