Italy v Rep of Ireland preview

Martin O’Neill: Hoping to put a serious dent in Italy’s World Cup preparations

Italy will ready themselves for a World Cup opener with England with a meeting on English soil with Republic of Ireland.

Fulham’s Craven Cottage will play host to a warm-up encounter on Saturday which will see the Azzurri attempt to finalise their plans for a summer trip to Brazil.

Coach Cesare Prandelli is yet to narrow his provisional 30-man squad down to a select group of 23, but must do so before June 2 and a contest in London represents his final chance to cast an eye over his hopefuls.

Prandelli has signed a new two-year contract in the build-up to the clash, taking him through to Euro 2016, but he will be aware that recent results must improve if he is to offer a return on that show of faith.

Italy have gone five games without success, stretching back to a 2-1 victory over Czech Republic in a World Cup qualifier in September 2013.

They will also need no reminding that their last showing at football’s showpiece event left a lot to be desired, with the four-time winners crashing out at the group stage in 2010 without winning a game.

Ireland, meanwhile, will be looking to respond positively to Sunday’s 2-1 loss against Turkey in Dublin.

They have now suffered back-to-back defeats under the guidance of Martin O’Neill and have seen assistant coach Roy Keane heavily linked with the vacant managerial post at Celtic.

With the Irish having failed to qualify for the World Cup finals, friendly fixtures at this stage are all about building momentum heading into a European Championship qualification campaign.

O’Neill sees end-of-season encounters as an opportunity to experiment, and is expected to do so again against Italy and in forthcoming meetings with Costa Rica – another World Cup foe of England – and Portugal.