Republic of Ireland Under-21 head coach Noel King will wait until close to kick-off before naming his side for tomorrow’s friendly international against Denmark in Fredericia.
A couple of niggling injuries have prevented the Irish boss from settling on his starting line-up for the meeting with the Danes.
QPR midfielder Frankie Sutherland (ankle) and club-mate Michael Harriman (knee) have minor knocks, while Wolves defender Matt Doherty (ankle) is also a doubt.
“We will leave it until the day to confirm the team. We are hoping to play the majority of the lads so that we can get to see them in a match situation,” said King.
“Everybody knows Denmark are a very strong side and I’ve no doubt they will be very tough. It’s exactly what we want at this stage. We have the Faroe Islands and then Germany in the UEFA qualifiers so we’re looking to find players to ensure we are in good shape for those games.”
King has been pleased with how the new faces have bedded in, including Cork City winger Daryl Horgan and Derry City’s versatile midfielder Barry McNamee.
“Daryl and Barry acquitted themselves very well in a training game we had with an expanded squad during to the week and have been coming to the fore in training,” said King.
“It’s a good opportunity for everybody. Michael played a full game in that match and also did very well. He seems a good addition.
“Selcuk Tidim has also trained well. You can see he is a goal-scorer. He knows where the net is in training. He’s not a brash physical striker but is a more thoughtful lad who picks up pieces and knows where the goal is, as he showed by scoring in that training game.
“We’ll get a better judgement of the players after this game. We’ll have seven or eight players who’ll be coming back into contention after they played in the other friendlies but we’ll give the players here a chance to show what they can do.
“It’s going to be difficult for those who haven’t played any sort of game in a little while. The heat here is testing. We’ll have to do the best we can and we are back in action in eight weeks.”
