A League of Ireland XI could face Montenegro on October 12th. The Republic of Ireland under-21s manager Jim Crawford is planning the trip to Podgorica without UK- and German-based players as Montenegro remains on both country’s “red list,” which means the players would have to quarantine for 10 days on their return.
With the Irish players unwilling to miss out on club opportunities, Crawford has named an alternative, home-based squad.
When the Irish senior women encountered the same problem, last month’s World Cup qualifier in Georgia was postponed until June 2022 but Crawford explained that Montenegro refused to reschedule for March.
“We’ve been through every avenue that we could possibly do,” said Crawford. “We asked about reversing the fixture to play here in Dublin but Montenegro said that they didn’t want to do that. We asked about a neutral venue, they didn’t want to give up home advantage, and we asked about the possibility of playing it in March, because we both only have one game, but they declined.
“If it does go down those lines of playing home-based players, they won’t let anybody down. They will do themselves, their clubs, their family, and their country proud. Whatever it is we are ready for the challenge against Montenegro.
“First things first we’ve got to concentrate on the Luxembourg match [in Tallaght next Friday].”
Fifa, the Premier League and English Football League have appealed to the UK government to relax the rules for professional players on international duty.
Another solution is that only vaccinated players will be allowed to travel to Montenegro.
“We have got about 75 per cent of our squad vaccinated so it is the other 25 per cent; some players have received one injection, others haven’t received any,” said Crawford. “That’s where we stand on that at the minute.”
When asked if players who refuse to be vaccinated would be dropped, Crawford replied: “at the minute what I have heard is - whether it is true or not - that they are saying we will let in vaccinated players that can go play in Montenegro and come back to the UK without doing the isolation period of 10 days. They can go straight back into their club.”
Republic of Ireland Under-21s squad for Luxembourg under-21
Goalkeepers: Sam Blair (Bury Town, on loan from Norwich City), Brian Maher (Bray Wanderers), David Odumosu (Drogheda United).
Defenders: Joel Bagan (Cardiff City), Andy Lyons (Bohemians), Oisin McEntee (Greenock Morton, on loan from Newcastle United), Mark McGuinness (Cardiff City), Jake O’Brien (Crystal Palace), Lee O’Connor (Tranmere Rovers, on loan from Celtic).
Midfielders: Conor Coventry (Peterborough United, on loan from West Ham United), Dawson Devoy (Bohemians), Alex Gilbert (Swindon Town, on loan from Brentford), Gavin Kilkenny (Bournemouth), Conor Noss (Borussia Möchengladbach), Ross Tierney (Bohemians), Louie Watson (Derby County).
Forwards: Evan Ferguson (Brighton and Hove Albion), Will Ferry (Crawley Town, on loan from Southampton), Joshua ‘JJ’ Kayode (Rotherham United), Liam Kerrigan (UCD), Andrew Moran (Brighton and Hove Albion), Ollie O’Neill (Fulham), Tyreik Wright (Salford City, on loan from Aston Villa), Colm Whelan (UCD).
Republic of Ireland Under-21 squad for Montenegro under-21 (pending UK/German Covid-19 travel restrictions)
Goalkeepers: Sam Blair (Bury Town, on loan from Norwich City), Brian Maher (Bray Wanderers), David Odumosu (Drogheda United).
Defenders: Joel Bagan (Cardiff City), Andy Lyons (Bohemians), Oisin McEntee (Greenock Morton, on loan from Newcastle United), Mark McGuinness (Cardiff City), Jake O’Brien (Crystal Palace), Lee O’Connor (Tranmere Rovers, on loan from Celtic), Ronan Boyce (Derry City), Kameron Ledwidge (Shelbourne) Josh Honohan (Cork City), Alex Murphy (Galway United), Niall O’Keefe (Waterford), Andrew Quinn (Bray Wanderers, on loan from Dundalk), Evan Weir (UCD).
Midfielders: Conor Coventry (Peterborough United, on loan from West Ham United), Dawson Devoy (Bohemians), Alex Gilbert (Swindon Town, on loan from Brentford), Gavin Kilkenny (Bournemouth), Conor Noss (Borussia Möchengladbach), Ross Tierney (Bohemians), Louie Watson (Derby County), Evan McLaughlin (Derry City), Niall Morahan (Sligo Rovers), Darragh Nugent (Longford Town, on loan from Shamrock Rovers), Killian Phillips (Drogheda United).
Forwards: Evan Ferguson (Brighton and Hove Albion), Will Ferry (Crawley Town, on loan from Southampton), Joshua ‘JJ’ Kayode (Rotherham United), Liam Kerrigan (UCD), Andrew Moran (Brighton and Hove Albion), Ollie O’Neill (Fulham), Tyreik Wright (Salford City, on loan from Aston Villa), Colm Whelan (UCD), Johnny Kenny (Sligo), Brandon Kavanagh (Bray Wanderers, on loan from Shamrock Rovers), Cian Kavanagh (Waterford), Dean Williams (Longford Town, on loan from Shamrock Rovers).
Uefa Under-21 European Championship Qualifiers - Group F
Friday, October 8th: Republic of Ireland U21 v Luxembourg U21, Tallaght Stadium, KO 5.15pm
Tuesday, October 12th: Montenegro U21 v Republic of Ireland U21, Gradski Stadion, Podgorica, KO 4.30pm (Irish time)
