Shamrock Rovers have announced that their young midfielder Aaron Bolger has signed for Cardiff City on loan until the end of the season. The move apparently went through before Thursday's transfer deadline but was not made public at the time.
The teenager – he turned 19 on Saturday – has been in and around the first team for more than two years while also featuring last year for the Under-19 side that made the final of the National League. With the club having added Jack Byrne and Aaron McEneff to an already strong group of midfielders, it seemed likely that he would not get so many first-team opportunities in the coming year and the hope is that a spell in a Premier League underage set-up will better help his continued development.
There does not seem to be any commitment by Cardiff to buy him in the summer but clearly he should get the chance to persuade them that he is worth investing in.
Bolger is currently with Stephen Kenny’s largely locally based Under-21 squad, which trained for the first time on Monday ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Irish amateur team. Bolger is expected to travel to Cardiff towards the end of the week.
Ronan Hale is out of the training camp and game due to his club, Crusaders, having reached Tuesday's final of the County Antrim Shield. They are due to face Linfield at the Ballymena Showgrounds.
Former Cork City and Waterford striker Aaron Drinan has joined up with the squad after having been given permission to do so by Ipswich Town, while Sligo's Jack Keaney and Sam Todd of Finn Harps have replaced JJ Lunney and John Mahon respectively.
Wednesday’s game is scheduled to take place at 7.45 in Whitehall.
