Republic of Ireland Under-21 manager Jim Crawford has given half a dozen players their first call-ups ahead of their opening European Championship 2025 qualifiers against Turkey and San Marino in Cork.
Among the six players is Blackburn Rovers' Zak Gilsenan, who scored a free-kick in the club’s 8-0 Carabao Cup victory over Harrogate on Wednesday.
Tyler Goodhram (Oxford United), Adam Murphy (St Patrick’s Athletic), Alex Murphy (Newcastle United), Tony Springett (Norwich City) and Owen Mason (Wexford) are the others to receive their first call-ups to Crawford’s squad as they prepare for their opening games.
Celtic’s Rocco Vata, who has been linked with a move away from Parkhead, and Matt Healy of Royal Francs Borains return to the 24-man squad.
Crawford will be without captain Joe Hodge, who has been ruled out after suffering an injury during Wolves’ Carabao Cup tie against Blackpool earlier this week, while Cork City’s Tiernan Brooks also misses out due to injury.
Ireland take on Turkey on Friday, 8 September (7.30pm) at Turner’s Cross, and return to the same venue the following Tuesday, 12 September, for the visit of San Marino.
Ireland go into the games in good form, having beaten Iceland 2-1 at home in March. The Boys in Green followed that up with a 2-2 draw against eventual U-21 Euro semi-finalists Ukraine before beating Kuwait 3-0 to end their June international window.
The squad is set to meet up on Sunday where they’ll be joined by new assistant coach Paul McShane who was appointed to the role on Monday.
Republic of Ireland Under-21 Squad
Goalkeepers: Killian Cahill (Brighton & Hove Albion), Josh Keeley (Tottenham Hotspur), Owen Mason (Wexford, on loan from Mansfield Town)
Defenders: James Abankwah (Udinese), Sam Curtis (St. Patrick’s Athletic), James Furlong (Brighton & Hove Albion), Anselmo Garcia MacNulty (PEC Zwolle), Sean Grehan (Crystal Palace), Bosun Lawal (Fleetwood Town, on loan from Celtic), Alex Murphy (Newcastle United) Sean Roughan (Lincoln City),
Midfielders: Zak Gilsenan (Blackburn Rovers), Tyler Goodhram (Oxford United), Matt Healy (Royal Francs Borains), Ed McJannet (Lecce), Adam Murphy (St. Patrick’s Athletic), Killian Phillips (Wycombe Wanderers, on loan from Crystal Palace), Rocco Vata (Celtic)
Forwards: Sinclair Armstrong (Queen’s Park Rangers), Conor Carty (St. Patrick’s Athletic, on loan from Bolton Wanderers), Aidomo Emakhu (Millwall), Johnny Kenny (Shamrock Rovers, on loan from Celtic), Andrew Moran (Blackburn Rovers, on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion), Tony Springett (Norwich City)
Watch France v Republic of Ireland on 7 June and Ireland v Netherlands on 10 June live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, listen live on RTÉ Radio and follow updates on RTÉ Sport Online and the RTÉ News app
We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Listen to the RTÉ Soccer podcast on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
