WILL SMALLBONE, THE Southampton midfielder on loan at Stoke City, is in contention for his senior Irish international debut in next month’s friendly internationals against Norway and Malta.
Smallbone starred for the Irish U21s in their Euros Championship qualification campaign, and has been a regular this season at Stoke in the Championship.
“Will is doing well and is in the discussion for sure”, manager Stephen Kenny told The42.
Another of Smallbone’s U21 international team-mates, Joe Hodge, may not be fast-tracked for a senior debut, however. Hodge made his first-team debut for Wolves off the bench in the Premier League at Chelsea on Saturday afternoon, impressing as a half-time replacement for Goncalo Guedes.
Hodge is also eligible to represent England, though has represented Ireland at U17, U19 and U21 level and has given no indication of being interested in a switch. Asked about Hodge, Kenny first highlighted his Wolves team-mate Connor Ronan, whom Kenny capped at U21 level and brought into the senior squad once without playing him.
“Personally, in relation to our squad, I would have preferred if it was Connor Ronan who came off the bench”, said Kenny. “I spoke to him last week and I was hoping that he might be the one to come on because he can add to us. Joe is obviously very young and will be a significant player for the U21s in the next campaign. As a first team player and a senior international, it’s a big jump at the moment but it’s a great achievement to play for Wolves. They have a couple of injuries in that position but it’s a great achievement to go and get into their first team so quickly, a great achievement for him.”
Ronan will struggle to return to the Irish squad without playing regular games.
“Wolves kept him because he had such a good pre-season but that wasn’t necessarily the best thing for him”, said Kenny. “It is hard to play in the Premier League and he is behind [Reuben] Neves and [Joao] Moutinho and the way they play, it’s not easy. Unless he’s featuring, it’s difficult to select players.”
Ireland will not be going to the World Cup in Qatar, so will round out 2022 with a home friendly against Norway on 16 November before then playing Malta away from home four days later. They begin their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign at home to France the following March.
Kenny says he will not use the November matches to experiment.
“I’m not going to experiment greatly. There are one or two players who are close enough and so forth, from the U21s, but you need an element of continuity now. You don’t want to be just throwing out new caps unless someone has been really outstanding and are the best player for the job. We will consider November in relation to one or two but we want to have that element of continuity for sure.”
He also said there is no update on a replacement for coach John Eustace, who left the staff earlier this year to become manager of Birmingham City.
