Stephen Kenny insists that Seamus Coleman can't be written off after one bad summer performance.
Kenny is aware of the criticism that the Ireland captain endured after the 1-0 World Cup qualifier defeat in Armenia last June but believes it is wrong to just single out Coleman - who, the Ireland boss says, should not have played due to injury.
"Obviously the problem for Seamus is the recurring hamstring thing that he had," Kenny commented.
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"He was coming back too early and putting his body on the line for his club and having to do that and breaking down, all that kind of stuff.
"He's happy that he's pain free now but he didn't have proper pre-season matches because he had a procedure, an operation.
"If everyone judges him on Armenia, people are saying, 'Oh, he's finished'.
"But we all learned a lot of lessons in that because he probably shouldn't have played in that game.
"But the way he thinks is, 'I can't play for Everton and not play for Ireland because Ireland is the most important to me, so if I play for Everton I have to play for Ireland'. Those are his values."
Kenny is fulsome in his praise of the 33-year-old's display in the scoreless draw with Portugal in Dublin.
"I thought he had a really good performance," he said.
"We played with a back three and we said, 'right, let's get at them here, let's press them high, get after them' and we were willing to go three on three.
"So, 'Shane Duffy, you're just going to have to handle Ronaldo', Seamus, one on one with Jota, and Silva against Egan and it was, 'You're just going to have to deal with that'.
"There were a lot of one on ones and in the first 10 minutes they got a hold of it and we were trying to get a foothold in the game, and I thought Seamus did very well in that period.
"So he did a lot of very good work in that game particularly, but that's the thing with international football, you think it was last week. It's only seven matches ago for me but it's last November."
Coleman put his body on the line to help extricate Everton from relegation trouble last season but has been out of favour this season.
His only appearance to date this term was in the narrow EFL Cup victory over Fleetwood last month but Premier League appearances have eluded him. Everton face West Ham today and that story is unlikely to change.
"He's pain free now so we have to see," stressed Kenny.
"They've changed between a back three and a back four at Everton, they've a lot of centre-backs that can play on the right of a back three, which they've sort of focused on towards the end of last season.
"They've obviously signed the Scottish right back Nathan Patterson, who is playing at the moment, so we'll have to wait and see.
"He knows he needs to play football but it can change with one injury and he can get back in the team, have a sustained run. He probably played more games than any of our players in the Premier League.
"So we'll have to see on that."
Kenny has no concerns that Jason Knight has remained a League One player with Derby County despite a flurry of interest before the transfer deadline.
Burnley were among the clubs who were linked with a move for the 21-year-old, who played an important role during the international window in June.
"I think there was a lot of interest in Jason, for sure," he said.
"His attitude is incredible. He’s such a very focused young man. He’s very mature for one so young.
"He’s a very focused individual. There’s a reason Wayne Rooney handed him the captain’s armband at such a young age, because he leads by example, the way he trains.
"Every day you see what you get.
"There was a lot of interest, but like anything else, clubs have to agree fees and valuations, so I’m not sure there are many clubs in the Championship that could afford to pay the fee that Derby would want.
"And then a Premier League would pay that and then he mightn’t play.
The vast majority of young players are very professional, and it’s not going to be 100 per cent of players. Of course you’re going to get that, that’s part and parcel.
"But definitely, Knight is a man’s man.
"Some people burn brightly for short periods but to have the sustained ability, to have the career, you have to have that relentless determination, that really incredible desire, and values.
"Because you’ll get found out. People will see through stuff. People want good people in their dressing-rooms."
Andy Lyons' rate of progress for Shamrock Rovers could see him on Stephen Kenny's Ireland radar soon as he gains ECL group stage experience before a January move to Blackpool.
However there is one player at Rovers who Kenny believes is ready for senior international recognition if he can get back in the Hoops line-up on a regular basis after a run of injury problems.
"Well, it can happen so quickly," said Kenny, discussing the prospects of under-21 international Lyons.
"But if I'm honest the one I like that has the most potential to be a senior international is not in the Rovers team - Neil Farrugia - but he has just had terrible injuries.
"He has the characteristics because he has that sort of Kevin Kilbane athleticism, that he can run 100 yards with that long stride and height, but he also has a high level of skill. He could do anything.
"So if has a run of staying fit, he could break through."
Kenny will watch Scotland's crunch home qualifier against Ukraine with the Ireland squad rather in the flesh in Glasgow on Wednesday night.
With Ireland training in Dublin on Thursday morning before flying to Scotland for their qualifier on Saturday, Kenny explained that there was a risk he might miss the session if he made an overnight stay in Glasgow.
"I would love to be there but I think Stephen Rice will go and one of our analysts as well, we'll get footage from that," said the Ireland boss.
"There's nothing like being there but potentially if my flight was late back I'd miss training, if I was delayed by half an hour, and then we're flying back to Scotland. So I think we just need to focus on us.
"We know what they can do but we just need to focus on us."
Meanwhile, Kenny has wished the Ireland women's team and the men's under-21 side best wishes for their crucial upcoming play-off games and believes momentum continues to grow in terms of the men's senior team.
"There are great things happening with the women’s team and we wish them luck in the play-off, and with the 21s next week," said the Dubliner.
"Obviously we had to experience a bit of pain in terms of results with our development as a team and I do feel that when I go travelling through airports every week I’m just overwhelmed by people stopping and saying how they relate to the team, how they enjoy watching the team.
"A lot of them manage kids’ teams themselves in different parts of the country or are involved in grassroots clubs, they relate to the team and are excited by it and stick with it.
"They want to be a part of that, I get that."
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