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All you need to know about the latest 2 uncapped players called up to Ireland's squad

Adam Rooney and Ian Lawlor were late inclusions by Martin O’Neill.

Ian Lawlor

  • Lawlor first made headlines in 2013 when he was called up by Man City to face Viktoria Plzen in their opening Champions League Group D game.
  • The young goalkeeper has a number of Ireland underage caps, and while he has yet to make his debut for the senior team, yesterday was not the first time he has been called up for the squad. Back in May 2014, having just made his debut for the U21s, he was called up at the last minute for a friendly against Turkey. He was also included in the squad for subsequent summer games against Italy, Costa Rica and Portugal.
  • Having played underage football for Man City, Lawlor made his senior debut last December after joining Barnet on an emergency loan. He subsequently went on loan to Bury for the remainder of last season, making 12 appearances and impressing in the process for the League One club.
  • Lawlor was also given a chance to impress pre-season with Man City, though the signing of Claudio Bravo and the previous use of Willy Caballero suggests the Dubliner has a long way to go if he is to seriously challenge for a first-team place at City.
  • The 21-year-old Dubliner is a product of Irish club Home Farm, who also count Richard Dunne, Mark Kinsella and Ronnie Whelan among their former players.
  • Lawlor says that England international and former City number one Joe Hart has had a “massive influence” on his career, last January revealing that he often gets tips from the Torino loan star.

RUSSIAN CITYZEN / YouTube

Adam Rooney

  • Rooney has been called up for Irish squads before and was even considered a dark horse to make the cut for Euro 2016. Nevertheless, he has still yet to make his debut for the Boys in Green.
  • 28-year-old striker Rooney has been prolific in the Scottish Premiership in recent times. He has six goals in 15 appearances in all competitions this season, in addition to 20 goals in 35 appearances last year, and 28 in 47 games during the 2014-15 campaign.
  • Rooney began his career at Stoke, but came to prominence by scoring 44 goals in 103 games for Scottish side Inverness Caledonian Thistle. He had relatively brief, ill-fated spells at Birmingham, Swindon and Oldham, before rediscovering his form after moving back to Scotland in 2014, helping the Dons secure the Scottish League Cup in his first season there.
  • He has represented Ireland at underage level already, representing the Boys in Green at U18, U19 and U21 level.
  • Though it ultimately didn’t work out for Rooney at Stoke, as he left the club just after they won promotion to the Premier League, he did manage at least one notable achievement during his time there, displacing Stanley Matthews as the team’s youngest ever hat-trick scorer.
  • Speaking on his Ireland call-up, Rooney says the following: “I thrive on scoring goals. I always think if I get a chance that I’ll take it. Hopefully I can do enough to impress.”

RSF / YouTube

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Paul Fennessy
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