Hallgrimsson keen to lead Irish out of 'downward spiral'

Hallgrimsson already finds himself under pressure after losing his first two games as Republic of Ireland boss

Republic of Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrimsson says he is trying to "shake things up" with a new training schedule as he bids to guide the team out of their "downward spiral".

The squad trained early on Wednesday morning ahead of Thursday night's Nations League game against Finland (19:45 BST) in Helsinki.

Under previous managers, the Irish players would have trained in the evening on the eve of a late kick-off matchday, but Hallgrimsson believes his way could benefit a side who have lost 11 of their last 13 competitive outings.

"That would be my preference of doing it this way," said Hallgrimsson, who overlooked established internationals Matt Doherty and Callum Robinson for this week's games in Finland and Greece.

"I think travelling is one thing. Let’s say a lot of coaches do the same time as kick-off time. That would mean that today we would just be waiting for training in the afternoon.

"Instead we finish that off and then the players can do whatever they need to do. Some players probably need to get some sleep, so they can do that after their training session."

With his reign having begun in dispiriting fashion with defeats by England and Greece last month, Hallgrimsson added "we are doing more talking than training" in an attempt to iron out issues and seek what would be a first away win in the Nations League in nine attempts.

Hallgrimsson is attempting to replicate his successful spell in charge of his native Iceland, the highlights of which were a Euro 2016 win over England as joint-manager with Lars Lagerback and 2018 World Cup qualification as sole boss.

However, the 57-year-old outlined the restrictions synonymous with international management as he cautioned that his building process will take time.

"I have said so many times, it's so different to be a national team coach," he added.

"Players play on Sunday, they come and cannot train on the Monday, so yesterday [Tuesday] was probably the only real training session we can have, so that's the only time we have all the players when they are physically ready to do a training session.

"It's tough to be a coach and only have one training session. We need to have everything ready on what we did last time and try to build on that."

Captain Collins calls on players to 'step up'

Collins will continue as Republic of Ireland captain with veteran skipper Seamus Coleman out injured

With captain Seamus Coleman sidelined, Nathan Collins will continue to stand in as skipper.

The Brentford defender took the armband for the closing stages of the England game after Coleman limped off before and retained captaincy duties against Greece.

"I probably didn't take in the moment as much as I should have, but that's just the way I am," Collins, 23, said of deputising for Coleman last month.

"My family did - I think they were crying in the stand. Honestly, it means a lot to me and my family."

Collins, who has started all seven of Brentford's Premier League games this season, added: "I think in this camp, it's really easy being a captain of this team as there are so many leaders. I could go through this team and you could name six or seven boys who would help me out, chip in, talk, motivate, and it makes my job easier.

"We're missing a few of the older boys, past leaders, and it is time for boys to step up and time for us to start showing our leadership."