Jim Crawford says it was never a possibility that any of Stephen Kenny's senior Republic of Ireland internationals would follow Aaron Connolly back to the Under-21s for Friday's European Championships play-off against Israel in Tallaght.
Gavin Bazunu, Troy Parrott, Nathan Collins, Jason Knight, Michael Obafemi and Andrew Omobamidele are all eligible to play for Crawford but will instead be heading to Scotland for the seniors' UEFA Nations League clash on Saturday night.
Ireland then host Armenia on Tuesday, the same evening the U-21s will be in Israel for the second leg.
Connolly is back with the U-21s as he looks to revive his flagging Ireland career, but his case is the exception, not the rule.
"It was really Aaron would have been the only one [the U-21s considered calling in]," said Crawford on Thursday.
"So, as I said before, we reached out to him to see if he would be interested, because you can't dismiss talent when you’ve got such a small playing pool to begin with, compared to other countries.
"He is playing football, he is playing at a decent level, he has shown to us through his move to a club in Italy [Serie B side Venezia] that he was getting away from all the noise that was distracting him in the UK, so it was a good step.
"We had numerous conversations beforehand. I was happy enough we were going to get an Aaron Connolly who was focused and ready to deliver.
"Aaron has come in and he is keen to make an impression and he has certainly stamped his authority in training. He has been training really well and he is looking forward to the two games."
Crawford stressed that the dialogue between the senior and U-21s camp is consistent and positive, adding: "Stephen [Kenny] rang us yesterday to ask us how it's been going. [He] was asking about players, what preparation has been like, and it is something we always do whether it is Keith Andrews or Stephen Kenny rings, or vice versa. I might ring them.
"But yeah, he has been asking about certain players and it’s been all positive up to now apart from losing the few players with regard injuries. Luca [Connell] misses out as well because of a tight hamstring, Mark McGuinness, Liam Kerrigan and David Harrington. They are big losses to the group; they are good characters to have around the place too.
Crawford had no hesitation in declaring the play-off games as the biggest he's ever been involved.
This is a chance for Ireland to make history; they have never reached a major finals at the age grade.
"As I said to the players already, it's 17 attempts to get this far with the U-21s," Crawford said.
"I think that's 34 years of playing U-21s football and this is the furthest we've got. So we're two games away from a place in the final. It's uncharted territory.
"We can enjoy the experience but it's about taking that next step. And we've worked on that since Monday morning to training later on this afternoon.
"Hopefully, the players that are picked can get us one foot over the line in the first leg and then it's going to be another challenge getting over to Israel in their home patch.
"But the lads are looking forward to it, they're excited and training has been good this week."
Follow the Republic of Ireland v Israel in their UEFA Under-21 European Championship play-off this Friday (KO 7pm) via our liveblog on RTÉ.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app, or watch live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
