JIM CRAWFORD HAS been forced to do without several members of the 25-man squad he named last week for his first get-together as Republic of Ireland U21 manager.
Crawford, who succeeded Stephen Kenny in the U21 role, has assembled a panel of players for a training camp in Northern Ireland this week.
However, with the team not due to play any games during this international window, some clubs have been unwilling to release players as they finalise their own preparations for the new season.
Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher and West Bromwich Albion defender Dara O’Shea have also been promoted to the senior squad ahead of their Uefa Nations League games against Bulgaria (Thursday) and Finland (Sunday).
Crawford is preparing the Ireland U21s for three vital games in the country’s bid to qualify for the European Championships for the first time.
Ireland, who sit atop Group One, are away to Italy on 13 October. The campaign concludes with a double-header of games against Iceland (home, 12 November) and Luxembourg (away, 17 November).
Southampton duo Michael Obafemi and Will Smallbone are among a cohort of players who haven’t been released, but their clubmates Will Ferry and Tom O’Connor have both linked up with the Ireland U21s this week. Stoke City’s Nathan Collins is another who has remained with his club as the start of the 2020-21 season approaches.
“We spoke to a couple of clubs and the clubs were saying to us that they want to keep the players on board because they’ve got some important games coming up and it’s an opportunity for those players to stake a claim in their first-team, which I think they will,” Crawford told FAI TV.
“The players involved are really good players and, in the long run, it certainly will benefit the [Ireland] U21s if they’re in their [club's] first-team for four, five or six games before the October window.
“As I said to the players earlier on, it’s the biggest U21 game in the history of Irish football – against Italy, it’s a massive game for us. If the players can come into that camp fit and ready, and us in this particular camp here at the minute, bedding down our principles with the players, they both go hand-in-hand for Italy.”
While the FAI has not issued an updated squad list for this week’s U21 training camp, several players – including defenders Conor McCarthy (St Mirren) and Warren O’Hora (MK Dons, on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion), and striker Aidan Keena (Falkirk) – have been drafted into the group as replacements for the absentees.
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