WEST HAM YOUNGSTER Josh Cullen and Burnley defender Kevin Long have been called up to the Ireland squad for upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against Gibraltar and Georgia.
The pair were not originally named in Mick McCarthy’s final 23-man squad for the upcoming fixtures, but have been brought in after Ronan Curtis and Alan Browne were ruled out through injury.
Despite initially not naming him in the squad, McCarthy spoke in praise of Cullen at the announcement of the final panel on Thursday.
“I watched Josh Cullen there on Saturday against Portsmouth for Charlton, and I went to watch him on Tuesday night. And here’s been out on loan… I thought he was excellent. But he’s bypassed the 21s. So, you never discount anybody.”
In addition to making a handful of senior appearances for West Ham, the 22-year-old has played 20 times in League One with Charlton this season.
Long, meanwhile has appeared 12 times in all competitions for Burnley this season, though has not featured for them since January and has been largely used as a back-up for first-choice central defensive pairing Ben Mee and James Tarkowski.
Bernard Jackman joins Murray Kinsella and Ryan Bailey on The42 Rugby Weekly as Ireland bid to spoil Wales’ Grand Slam party in Cardiff, and the U20s target their own piece of history.
The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud
Subscribe to our new podcast, The42 Rugby Weekly, here:
