Don Givens's devotion to the use of wide men in his teams proved good news for Shelbourne's Wesley Houlihan yesterday when the manager confirmed that the young Dubliner will be thrown straight into the starting line-up for tonight's under-21 international at the Finnair Stadium in Helsinki.
Houlihan, who was only drafted into the squad over the weekend in place of the injured Andy Reid, will now make his international debut at this level after the team's established winger, Thomas Butler, was promoted yesterday morning to the senior squad.
"Basically he'll play because he's the only wide man," admitted Givens as the squad arrived in Helsinki last night. "But he has impressed me every time I've seen him play and in training, so I'm confident that he'll handle the situation."
The manager welcomed Butler's elevation, insisting that it was a plus for him and the coaching staff: "It's great to see another one move up. Of course it weakens us, because Mick's only going to take our best lads but there's no point in winning games if you're not moving the players on up. Thomas has done very well for us, so we're delighted to see him get his reward."
Stockport's Jim Goodwin will now captain the team in a game which gives Givens the opportunity to do some final fine-tuning before next month's first European Championship qualifier in Russia.
REP OF IRELAND: Murphy (Tranmere Rvrs); S Byrne (West Ham), Goodwin (Stockport County), C Byrne (Sunderland), Tierney (Manchester Utd); Miller (Celtic), Mattis (Huddersfield Town), Keane (Preston North End); Houlihan (Shelbourne), Barrett (Arsenal), Burges (Stockport County).
