Heimir Hallgrímsson is in desperate search of a defensive midfielder after Josh Cullen suffered an ACL tear in late December. Many names have been thrown into consideration, but who should be lining out for Ireland in March?
Cullen started five of Ireland’s six qualifying matches, missing the 1–0 win over Armenia due to suspension. In his absence, Ireland lined up with a midfield partnership of Will Smallbone and Jayson Molumby.
Across the campaign, Cullen was partnered with Jason Knight twice, Molumby twice, and Jack Taylor once. He also played just over 20 minutes alongside debutant Conor Coventry in the famous win over Portugal.
The highly talked about Bosun Lawal has rightly been brought into the conversation, but his lack of international experience may hinder his chances.
All of these players will be in consideration to face Czechia. However, Smallbone’s chances will be slim due to his extended spells on the sideline this season. That leaves Molumby, Taylor, Knight, Coventryand Lawal, five men fighting for two spots.
Cullen’s passing ability is the strongest aspect of his game. He has created more big chances than the rest of his potential replacements, with four, while both Molumby and Coventry sit on three. When looking at pass completion rate, Molumby tops the charts at 88%, followed by Taylor on 85%, with both Lawal and Cullen on 84%.
When it comes to passes over 35 yards, Cullen ranks third with 2.3 per 90, compared to Coventry and Lawal, who both average 2.9 per 90.
A key factor that must be considered is that Cullen is a Premier League footballer, with the rest of these players currently playing their trade in the Championship. Looking at his numbers for Burnley in the 2024/25 Championship season, he boasts a pass completion rate of 89% along with 3.0 passes over 35 yards per 90.
The defensive numbers also largely lean in Cullen’s favour, with his statistics for interceptions, tackles and blocked shots surpassing the rest. However, both Coventry and Lawal are not far behind.
Bosun Lawal, in particular, makes a strong statement through his duel statistics, winning 2.9 ground duels and 2.5 aerial duels per 90. The aerial numbers may be influenced by the fact he has featured in more defensive roles, but they remain significantly higher than everyone else, including Cullen.
In terms of distance covered, the only player superior to Cullen is Jason Knight.
From a purely statistical perspective, Coventry and Lawal appear to be the logical selections, but experience cannot be ignored. Between them, they share just a single international cap. That compares to Molumby’s 32 and Knight’s 41.
This is Ireland’s biggest match of the decade. Can they afford to field two inexperienced players? No is the short answer, but one of them should play. In comparison to Cullen, either Coventry or Lawal represent the closest profile Ireland have.
When paired with either Knight or Molumby, the issue of inexperience is significantly reduced.
Recent Irish performances would suggest Molumby would take one of these spots and based off statistics alone Lawal should take the other.
That midfield would give Ireland strength on the ball and, perhaps more importantly, off it, providing the boys in green with their best chance of reaching a World Cup for the first time since 2002.