IRISH MIDFIELDER ALAN Judge has played down rumours linking him with a move to a Premier League club in January.

Judge has impressed in the Championship with Brentford this season, contributing six goals and four assists, including an influential display against Charlton at the weekend.

The former League One Player of the Year nominee’s good form has led to reports that the club would offer the 26-year-old midfielder a new contract, but no deal has been signed yet, and a number of reports in the British media last week suggested that Swansea, Bournemouth and Leicester were all considering a bid for the Irish underage international.

Judge’s current contract at Griffin Park expires at the end of next season, however, the player insists that he is happy where he is and is “laughing off” talk of a bid from a Premier League club.

“To be honest with you, I just laugh it off,” he tells The42. “I’ve had a good two or three weeks and had a decent start to the season as well, but I’ve got to continue this form to make sure things happen. But I’m really enjoying life at Brentford at the moment and I’d like to go places with them.”

In addition to making the revised squad for the recent games against Germany and Poland, Judge was also included in today’s provisional Ireland squad to face Bosnia.

Brentford's Alan Judge has been included in recent Ireland squads. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO

And despite not featuring in the two most recent qualifiers, Judge savoured the experience.

“The training was great. You see the standard you want to get to — they’re all international players. I know I didn’t get on the bench or on the field against Germany, but to be around the atmosphere (at the Aviva Stadium) and everything was brilliant.”

And as for Roy Keane and Martin O’Neill? Did they have any words of encouragement?

“I spoke to the two of them quite a lot. Roy more or less said: ‘Keep scoring goals and playing well and you’ll find yourselves in more squads.’ And the manager said the exact same thing. He wanted to bring me in and get a feel for the squad, and hopefully, I got to show him what I can do in the last training camp. You never know what’ll happen next but I really enjoyed it.”

Judge, who has yet to win a senior international cap, admits he is not expecting to play against Bosnia, but says he will be ready to come in if necessary.

“It would be a big game for me to (make my international debut)… But if there’s any chance of me being called in, I’ll always be as ready as I can.”

Keep an eye on The42 this weekend for our full, in-depth interview with Alan Judge on being cast off by Blackburn as a youngster, his thoughts on the Irish underage set-up and his struggles adapting to the considerable changes at Brentford this season.

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