NEIL LENNON is the favourite to replace Stephen Kenny as Republic of Ireland boss.

Kenny is under major scrutiny after a horror start to his reign as national team manager with just a friendly win over Andorra in his first 15 matches in charge.

With pressure mounting on Kenny, bookies Paddy Power have installed ex-Celtic boss Lennon as favourite to come in if Irish football chiefs decide Kenny's time is up.

Lennon is priced at 23/10 to take over in the national team role, with Roy Keane and Keith Andrews behind at 11/2 and 13/2 respectively.

Robbie Keane and Damien Duff are also thought to be in the running at 7/1 and 8/1 for the role.

Outsiders for the role include Michael O'Neill, Chris Hughton and Steve Bruce.

And despite the speculation over Kenny's position, he has hit back at the criticism and brushed off talks of Lennon taking over.

Kenny said: “That is irrelevant to me, it’s part of international management, it comes with the territory. It is not something that I am concerned about.”

But he admitted he has no guarantees over his position. “Well, I’ve been given no assurances in that regard", said Kenny.

“I’ve taken the decisions I’ve taken regardless of the impact on myself here. I’ve not been given any assurances, I’ve just been given full support by the FAI behind the scenes. They’ve been brilliant."