Mayo ace Reilly in Irish squad to face Denmark and England
Republic of Ireland Under-16 head coach Paul Osam has announced a 20-man squad ahead of friendlies against Denmark and England next week.
It includes former Castlebar Celtic ace Darragh Reilly, now on the books of Sligo Rovers.
The Boys in Green travel to England on Friday and face the Danes at the English FA’s headquarters of St George’s Park on Tuesday (August 20) before taking on the hosts on Thursday (August 22).
Eighteen players from six SSE Airtricity League clubs make up the squad with St Patrick’s Athletic forward Tom Lonergan receiving a first international call-up.
Osam said: “We’ve a lot of good players in the squad and it’s possibly the first squad in the last few years we’ve had to leave players out because of the high standard. Those players who have missed out were very lucky but there seems to be an abundance of quality players at this particular age group.”
Osam also looked towards the two games in England and the challenges that the Irish squad will face. He added: “Denmark are a nation who play attractive football and they have been formidable at both underage and senior level and it will be a good test for us.
“Traditionally England have a massive pool of players to choose from so they have the pick of the crop and they always have very strong underage teams. We’re going in to win the game, be positive, play on the front foot and cause England as many problems as they may cause us.”
Republic of Ireland squad
Goalkeepers: Jack Ross (Bray Wanderers), Aaron Maguire (Tottenham Hotspur)
Defenders: Tommy Fogarty (Birmingham City), John Ryan (Shamrock Rovers), Darragh Reilly (Sligo Rovers), Ben Curtis (Shamrock Rovers), Sean Grehan (Bohemians), James Abankwah (St Patrick’s Athletic), Aaron O’Reilly (St Patrick’s Athletic)
Midfielders: Luke McGlynn (Finn Harps), Glory Nzingo (St Patrick’s Athletic), Jamie Mullins (Bohemians), John Joe Power (Burton Albion)
Forwards: Cian Kelly (Bohemians), Ben Quinn (St Patrick’s Athletic), Edwin Agbaje (Shamrock Rovers), Sean Fitzpatrick (Wexford Youths), Evan Ferguson (Bohemians), Michael Leddy (Shamrock Rovers), Tom Lonergan (St Patrick’s Athletic)