1. No place for Westwood
WITH 40 PLAYERS CUT down to 33 this evening, one goalkeeper was sure to lose out and Martin O’Neill opted to retain David Forde in favour of Keiren Westwood.
Second choice at club level but excellent during the Hammers’ FA Cup run, West Ham’s Darren Randolph is favourite to hold onto the number one jersey this summer having impressed since coming in to replace the injured Shay Given last October.
Rob Elliot has been getting regular football in the Premier League as he deputises for Tim Krul at struggling Newcastle United and deserves his place, while Shay Given is unavailable while he attempts to regain full fitness.
Westwood, last season’s Championship goalkeeper of the Year, has played 27 times for Championship promotion hopefuls Sheffield Wednesday and recently told The42 that he would love to be involved.
He is surely a better option to Forde — who has been dislodged as number one at League One Millwall — but it appears as if O’Neill is unconvinced and it doesn’t look good for the Owls keeper’s chances of making Euro 2016.
2. Forrester will have to wait
The inclusion of Chris Forrester on the provisional list was almost universally met with a positive reaction a week ago.
Think Long, Hoolahan, Coleman, Forde, McClean… We all like to see a player who has cut his teeth in the League of Ireland making the step up and gaining international recognition.
Former Bohemians and St Patrick’s Athletic star Forrester has been one of the good news stories of Irish football this season with his exploits in League One and the FA Cup for Peterborough United.
Unfortunately, the Dubliner won’t be given the chance to link up and train at Abbottstown this week as O’Neill has instead decided to go with players plying their trade either in the Premier League or the Championship (with the exception of Aberdeen’s Jonathan Hayes).
At 23, time is still on Forrester’s side and if he continues to progress at a similar rate there is little doubt that he will don the green jersey in future campaigns.
3. Uncapped players get their chance
With just three friendlies scheduled before Ireland’s opening Euro 2016 Group E encounter against Sweden on 13 June, O’Neill has repeatedly hinted that he will use the two Dublin friendlies with Switzerland and Slovakia to look at a number of fringe players.
The Derryman has name-checked Alan Judge on several occasions and there is an argument that no uncapped Irish player deserves a chance more right now.
With unfancied Brentford, the midfielder has enjoyed a remarkable campaign thus far — scoring 14 goals and chipping in with 10 assists in England’s second tier.
27-year-old Judge is likely to be handed the chance to stake a claim along with fellow midfielder Harry Arter in one if not both games.
Elsewhere, there could well be senior debuts for Wolves full-back Matt Doherty and Aberdeen winger Jonny Hayes.
4. Hints about those set to miss out
Joining Westwood and Forrester on the omitted list today were Greg Cunningham, Darron Gibson, Paul Green, Simon Cox and Anthony Stokes.
Given the fact that O’Neill can only take 23 players to France for this summer’s finals and although there are often a couple late replacements to deal with last-minute injuries, you would have to think that group hold slim hopes at best of forcing their way in.
And in truth, Westwood aside, none of them could make particularly strong cases to be chosen for the European Championships.
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