Gavin Cooney

HEIMIR HALLGRIMSSON WILL run the rule over former Shelbourne forward Jack Moylan as he prepares to name his experimental squad for next month’s friendly with Grenada in Spain. 

Hallgrímsson has arranged a Spain training camp next month to assess some of his fringe options, which will culminate in one – and possibly two – friendly matches with Grenada. The camp is held outside of the official Fifa window and during the tail-end of the Premier League season, meaning Hallgrímsson is limited in the number of players he will be able to call up. 

Any player involved in the Premier League, Scottish Premiership, and the EFL play-offs will be unavailable, but by virtue of Lincoln City winning League One and earning automatic promotion, Moylan’s diary will be free. 

Hallgrímsson is therefore planning to attend Lincoln’s home clash with Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday, with Moylan a likely call-up next month. He has had a terrific season, with 10 goals and six assists in 29 league appearances. 

Irish U21 international Jamie Mullins may also have a chance to impress Hallgrímsson: the former Bohemians midfielder joined Wycombe on a permanent deal from Brighton in the summer, and having been a regular in the team in the early part of the season, he has lately had to settle for a more peripheral role. 

Lincoln’s Josh Honohan, meanwhile, remains sidelined with injury: the defender has yet to make an appearance since joining from Shamrock Rovers. 

Hallgrímsson plans to announce his squad on 5 May, and it will consist largely of EFL players whose seasons have concluded. Thus Sammie Szmodics, Jason Knight, Jayson Molumby, Chiedozie Ogbene, Adam Idah, Gavin Bazunu, Max O’Leary, Conor Coventry, Jimmy Dunne, James Abankwah, Sinclair Armstrong, Harvey Vale, Millenic Ali and Andrew Moran are all likely call-ups.

Bosun Lawal is very highly-rated by Hallgrímsson and will be finished his season with Stoke, but he has again been sidelined by injury. Cardiff’s Joel Bagan may get a call-up given Ireland’s lack of depth at left-back, with Robbie Brady hampered by injury and all of Kevin O’Toole, Will Ferry, and Callum O’Dowda unavailable. 

Involvement for the likes of Will Smallbone, Ryan Manning, Finn Azaz, John Egan, and Johnny Kenny relies on whether they are involved in play-offs. 

Club involvements also preclude call-ups for League of Ireland players along with those based abroad, including Troy Parrott (AZ Alkmaar), Andrew Omobamidele (Strasbourg), Festy Ebosele (İstanbul Başakşehir) and Joe Hodge (Tondela). 

One potential call up is Irish U21 international Jaden Umeh, of whom Hallgrímsson is a fan. Umeh has been playing with Benfica’s U23s, but this week trained with Jose Mourinho’s first team squad. Breaking into that squad on matchdays over the forthcoming weeks would likely rule him out of contention for the Spain camp. 

Ireland face Grenada in Murcia on Saturday 16 May.