Leeds midfielder Stephen McPhail and Manchester United centre-back John O'Shea are back on Under-21 duty for the Republic of Ireland against Holland at Waterford tomorrow after their taste of senior action earlier this month.
Both figured as substitutes when McPhail - winning his fourth full cap – and debutant O'Shea appeared in the second half of a 2-2 Dublin friendly against Croatia. Now O'Shea - whose handball gave Croatia a late penalty equaliser – and McPhail, whose career was interrupted by an Achilles injury that sidelined him for nearly a year, have been given the opportunity re-establish themselves in Don Givens' under-age team.
"John was very unlucky in the Croatia game but he's a big, brave lad who will bounce back from that. Stephen was really making a name for himself before his injury and it's good to have him with us again. I still believe they are two of the lads who could make the breakthrough into Mick McCarthy's senior squad eventually," McPhail said.
Tomorrow night's match is a European Under 21 Championship qualifier but Portugal have already clinched top spot and a place in the finals. Ireland's motivation will be to make amends for a 2-0 defeat by the Dutch in Nijmegen a year ago and continue their recent improved form which surfaced with a 3-0 victory over Estonia in Tallin in June.
Republic of Ireland U21 team: Murphy (Tranmere); B Quinn (Coventry), Gavin (Middlesbrough), O'Shea (Man Utd), Foy (Nottm Forest); T Butler (Sunderland), Healy (Celtic), McPhail (Leeds), Byrne (West Ham); Sadlier (Millwall), Barrett (Arsenal).
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
