Fulham defender Zat Knight has expressed an interest in playing for the Republic of Ireland having grown frustrated with his inability to earn a call-up from England coach Sven Goran Eriksson despite consistently strong form at club level, reports Emmet Malone.
The 24-year-old centre-half is, at 6'6", one of the tallest players in the Premiership and is both strong in the air and good with the ball at his feet. He has been watched on numerous occasions by members of the England management team and mentioned favourably several times by Eriksson. With the Swede enjoying some very strong options in the centre of his defence, however, there has been no sign of a first cap for the former under-21 international.
"I know it's going to be hard for me to push my way into the England team, especially now with the likes of Rio (Ferdinand) coming back, John Terry doing well, Ledley King doing very well and Sol Campbell as well," said Knight.
"Maybe I should be looking at different venues, what with the World Cup coming up in two years' time. I can still play for the Republic of Ireland (he qualifies by virtue of an Irish grandmother) and that is something that I have been seriously considering."
While hardly the most emotional assertion of Irishness ever made by a would-be international, Knight's willingness to switch allegiance may nevertheless prove attractive to Kerr whose two most prominent central defenders are over 30.
Even if the process were commenced immediately it is unlikely that Knight could clear the international switch with FIFA in time for next month's friendly against Croatia but if both parties were keen for it to happen the Solihull-born defender could be available to make his debut against the Portuguese in February.
UNDER-19s: With every respect to Andorra, the 30 degree heat should provide the chief difficulty for Seán McCaffrey's side as they open their quest to qualify for next July's UEFA under-19 Championships (to be staged in Northern Ireland) here in Limassol at 3.30 local time this afternoon, reports Paul Buttner.
Sterner tests against the hosts in Larnaca on Wednesday and Russia, back in Limassol on Friday, lie ahead.
The top two from the four-nation group go through to the second phase in the spring, with the winners of that, another four-team pool, advancing to the eight-nation finals to be hosted by the Irish Football Association.
"You expect to beat Andorra and you would expect to beat Cyprus," said McCaffrey. "It (the heat) will suit both Andorra and Cyprus but not us and the Russians, but we'll just have to get on with it."
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND U-19s (probable): Randolph (Charlton Ath); Keane (Luton Town), O'Dea (Celtic), McShane (Manchester Utd), Painter (Birmingham); Collins (Huddersfield), O'Brien (Bolton), Cregg (Arsenal), Foley (Aston Villa); Kelly (Liverpool), Keogh (Scunthorpe Utd).
