U-21 squad for upcoming internationals announced

Republic of Ireland under-21 manager Noel King has announced his squad for the forthcoming internationals against Denmark and Italy.

Wed, 16 May, 2012 - 13:51

Republic of Ireland under-21 manager Noel King has announced his squad for the forthcoming internationals against Denmark and Italy.

The U-21s play Denmark at Tallaght Stadium in a friendly international on Monday, May 28 (7.30pm kick-off) then meet Italy in a UEFA U21 Championships qualifying Group Seven fixture at the Showgrounds, Sligo, on Monday, June 4 (3.00pm kick-off).

King said: “We’ve assembled a good squad that we will be looking to build on our previous performances. At this stage of the season some players have not played for a couple of weeks so the Denmark game will be extremely important.

“Italy are a very well-prepared side that recently beat Scotland 4-1 in a warm-up game so everything is geared towards being prepared for that fixture.”

Captain Rob Kiernan has not been included as he is undergoing treatment on an injury but may join up with the group later. King also has the opportunity to add one or two more players if needed.

Under-19 international squad members Samir Carruthers and Sean Murray will join up with the squad after their UEFA Championships qualifying tournament duties with Paul Doolin’s squad have been completed. Eunan O’Kane and John Egan are the two other uncapped players in the squad.

Squad:

Ian McLoughlin (MK Dons FC)

Aaron McCarey (Wolverhampton Wanderers FC)

Mark Connolly (Unattached )

Shane Duffy (Everton FC)

Greg Cunningham (Manchester City FC)

Niall Canavan (Scunthorpe United FC)

Lanre Oyebanjo (York City FC)

John Egan (Sunderland FC)

Jeff Hendrick (Derby County FC)

Eunan O’Kane (Torquay United FC)

Richie Towell (Hibernian FC - on loan from Celtic FC)