Connolly and lenihan in u21 panel

Dylan Connolly (pictured) and Darragh Lenihan have been named in Noel King's u-21 Republic of Ireland sqaud for this week's games against Qatar u-23 and Andorra.

The Meath duo will be in contention for starting places against Qatar at Bury FC's Gigg Lane on Friday (6pm) and then travel to Andorra for their second UEFA U21 Championships Qualifying Round Group 2 fixture on Tuesday 8th September (4pm Irish).

King's charges beat Andorra 1-0 at Waterford's RSC in their opening qualifier in March thanks to a goal by Dylan Connolly.

'Qatar gives everybody a chance to play. It's a training opportunity for both sides. The last time we played were a physical side, well organised and a good challenge,' said King.

'The whole thing is to go to Andorra as well-prepared as possible. We had lots of possession against them in Waterford but struggled to turn that into enough goal-scoring opportunities but since then they've beaten Lithuania so we know it's not going to be an easy game in their place,' he added.

U-21 PANEL
Dylan Connolly (Ipswich Town)
Darragh Lenihan (Blackburn Rovers)
Daniel Rogers (Aberdeen - on loan Falkirk)
Eric Grimes (Leeds United)
Thomas Hoban (Watford)
Glen Rea (Brighton - on-loan at Southend)
Shane Griffin (Reading)
Alan Browne (Preston North End)
Jack Connors (Dagenham)
Sean Kavanagh (Fulham)
Callum O'Dowda (Oxford United)
Reece Grego-Cox (QPR)
Brian Lenihan (Hull City)
Sean Long (Reading)
Conor Wilkinson (Barnsley)
Shamir Goodwin (Crawley Town)
Sean Maguire (Dundalk)
Sam Byrne (Everton)
Josh Cullen (West Ham)

U-21 FIXTURES

Friday 4th September

International Friendly

Qatar U23 v Republic of Ireland, Gigg Lane, Bury (6.00pm)

Tuesday 8th September

UEFA U21 Championships Qualifying Round Group 2

Andorra v Republic of Ireland, Andorra Le Vella, Andorra (4.00pm)

 

JAMES FINNERTY

Skryne teenager James Finnerty (now with Aston Villa) is in Hungary this week with the Republic of Ireland u-17s.
Managed by former NECSL player Tom Mohan, the Irish lost tier first game last evening (0-2), but Finnerty did not feature. The second game will take place tomorrow and it's likely that Finnerty will be in action.

U-17 FIXTURE

Thursday 3rd September 

U17 International Friendly

Hungary v Republic of Ireland, Bük (HUN), 10:00 (Irish Time).