Cork teenager Tyreik Wright is expected to make his debut tonight for Aston Villa in their FA Cup third round clash with Liverpool tonight.
Villa will be without their entire first team, along with boss Dean Smith and assistants John Terry, Craig Shakespeare and Richard O'Kelly, as they are isolating due to a 'significant' Covid-19 outbreak at the club.
As a result, they will be relying on their U23s and U18s to play the tie against the Premier League champions.
Wright, who comes from Ovens in County Cork, signed for the club in the summer of 2018 from Lakewood Athletic after impressing on trial.
The winger has played 14 times for Villa’s under-23s this season, scoring twice and providing three assists.
Wright is perhaps best known for his performances for the Republic of Ireland at underage level.
In 2017, he was a part of the Paul Osam team that won the Victory Shield. Wright also featured for Ireland in their run to the quarter finals of the Under-17 European Championship that year.
Wright could be facing another Cork man on Friday evening, with Caoimhin Kelleher expected to start for Liverpool.
Kelleher has replaced Adrian as the Reds' second choice goal-keeper following his displays against Ajax in the Champions League and Wolves in the Premier League.
The 22-year-old has already played for Liverpool at Villa Park. In 2019 he featured on an U-23 Liverpool team which contested a quarter-final of the Carabao Cup as the first-team squad were in Qatar for the FIFA Club World Cup.
That was a night for forget for Kelleher as he conceded five goals in Birmingham but he has since established himself at Anfield.
Follow live updates from Aston Villa v Liverpool (7.45pm) on RTÉ Sport Online and the RTÉ News app
