Gavin Cooney

CREWE ALEXANDRA DEFENDER Connor O’Riordan has committed to the Irish U21s set-up days after he was called up to Scotland’s U21s squad. 

O’Riordan, capped once in a friendly for Ireland, was named in the Scottish U21s squad on Monday, but Jim Crawford named O’Riordan in the Irish squad for this month’s European Championship qualifier against Latvia. 

“We had a conversation the other day”, said Crawford in reference to O’Riordan. “His exact words to me were ‘I want to fight for my place with the Republic of Ireland’. That will do for me.

“I didn’t have an inkling, but these things happen at underage football more so. It’s one of them, we had the conversation. All I can say is that he is desperate to play for the Republic of Ireland, desperate to. That’s the type of player you want here.” 

O’Riordan was left out of the Irish squad for last month’s games against Turkey and San Marino because of a lack of gametime with Crewe, but has now regained his place.  

“He is a player who is playing well”, said Crawford. “He’s a big centre back who is dominant in both boxes, that is something we might need in this game against Latvia who are very good at set-pieces, aggressive, and have a lot of good players with regards counterattacking football.

“It will certainly be a game that will suit Connor. Somebody of Connor’s ability, it doesn’t surprise me [he was called up by Scotland], because it does go on at international football where he hasn’t played a competitive game so someone will come in say ‘we will take you on’.

“I had the phone call with him and he’s certainly all about playing for the Republic of Ireland. I’m delighted to have him.”

Meanwhile, there has been no movement on the situation with Tom Cannon, who is currently recovering from a stress fracture to his back, meaning he has yet to make an appearance for new club Leicester. Cannon was capped by the Irish U21s in March but withdrew in June to consider his international options, following an approach from England, the country of his birth. 

“Tom just started training on Monday”, said Crawford. “He’s been injured a while and he’s back in training in regards to us sitting down and having a conversation with him, that hasn’t happened yet but I’d say in sort of the between this window and the next window, there should be conversations with Tom because he is a player that you know would certainly add to the 21s.

“He just needs to get himself fit, get himself in that Leicester team. It’s a good Leicester team, it’s a good challenge for him to play first team football. It’s just unfortunate where the whole thing sits at the minute. I think he’s an excellent footballer and he’s certainly someone we could do with. “ 

The Irish squad have been boosted by the return to fitness of Joe Hodge, while Andrew Moran has been named in the squad, though is on standby for the senior squad. 

Republic of Ireland U21s squad 

Goalkeepers: Killian Cahill (Brighton & Hove Albion), Josh Keeley (Tottenham Hotspur) Owen Mason (Wexford, on loan from Mansfield Town)
 
Defenders: James Abankwah (Charlton Athletic, on loan from Udinese), Sam Curtis (St. Patrick’s Athletic),  James Furlong (Hull City), Anselmo Garcia MacNulty (PEC Zwolle), Sean Grehan (Crystal Palace), Bosun Lawal (Fleetwood Town, on loan from Celtic), Connor O’Riordan (Crewe Alexandra)
 
Midfielders: Baba Addeko (Wigan Athletic), Zak Gilsenan (Blackburn Rovers), Matt Healy (Royal Francs Borains), (Joe Hodge (Wolves), Ed McJannet (Lecce), Andrew Moran (Blackburn Rovers, on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion),  Rocco Vata (Celtic)
 
Forwards: Sinclair Armstrong (QPR), Aidomo Emakhu (Millwall), Johnny Kenny (Shamrock Rovers, on loan from Celtic), Armstrong Oko-Flex (FC Zürich), Tony Springett (Norwich City)
 
UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualifier – Group A
 
Friday, October 13 | Latvia U21 v Ireland U21, Zemgales Olympic Centre, Jelgava, kick-off 1pm (Irish Standard Time)