Soccer

McCarthy named in under-21 squad

Senior international James McCarthy has been named in Noel King’s 19-man squad under-21 for their friendly international against…

Thu Jan 27 2011 - 00:00

Senior international James McCarthy has been named in Noel King’s 19-man squad under-21 for their friendly international against Cyprus in Larnaca on February 9th.

The 20-year-old made a scoring return to the first team at Wigan in their 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa on Tuesday night but was not included in Giovanni Trapattoni’s squad for the senior side’s Nations Cup clash against Wales on February 8th.

American-born striker Conor Doyle is included in an Irish panel for the first time after impressing for Derby County this season, while King will employ some local knowledge in the squad with the Cypriot-based duo of Mikey Collins and Robbie Gibbons also named..

“This friendly against Cyprus is a great opportunity to finally get the squad together and I am looking forward to seeing them play as a team after watching them individually over the last number of months,” said King.

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“While the draw for the upcoming Uefa Championship takes place on February 3rd, there is a possibility that we could be playing two qualifiers in March and that is why this friendly in Cyprus could be so important,” he said.

Republic of Ireland under-21 squad (for international friendly v Cyprus, Larnaca, February 9th):Ritchie Branagan (Bury), Ian McLoughlin (Ipswich Town), Gavin Gunning (Blackburn Rovers), Shane Duffy (Everton), Rob Kiernan (Watford), Mark Connolly (Bolton Wanderers), Richie Towell (Hibernian), Johnny Dunleavy (Barnet, on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers FC), Shane O'Connor (Ipswich Town), James McCarthy (Wigan Athletic), Conor Clifford (Chelsea), Conor Hourihane (Ipswich Town), Aaron Doran (Inverness CT, on loan Blackburn Rovers), Jamie Devitt (Hull City), Conor Doyle (Derby County), Robbie Brady (Manchester United), James Collins (Shrewsbury Town, on loan from Aston Villa), Mikey Collins (APEP, Cyprus), Robbie Gibbons (Alki Larnaca, Cyprus).

Stand-by List:Lanre Oyebanjo (Histon), Damien McCrory (Dagenham & Redbridge), Enda Stevens (Shamrock Rovers), Daniel Kearns (Dundalk), Gearoid Morrissey (Cork City), Jeff Hendrick (Derby County), Ronan Murray (Ipswich Town), Sean Scannell (Crystal Palace), Joe Mason (Plymouth Argyle), Paddy Madden (Bohemians).