McGrath in Republic of Ireland u-21 squad

Republic of Ireland Under 21 manager Noel King has included Athboy's Jamie McGrath in his squad to take on Czech Republic and Slovakia in two friendly games in Spain.

Ireland will take part in a five-day training camp in La Manga, Spain as part of their preparation for the 2019 UEFA Under 21 European Championship qualifying campaign.

Included in the squad are 15 uncapped players, amongst whom is Walsall midfielder Liam Kinsella - son of former senior international Mark - and Tyrone Duffus - younger brother of three-times capped Courtney.
'This camp is an opportunity to get to know the players, their characters, and if they are best suited to our style and playing international football, which is very important,' said King.
'The more time we get with the players the quicker we get to know our strongest team. So we will use this time to make assessments over these players and hope that we rise to the challenge of the games.'
King has also brought in four SSE Airtricity League players in St Patrick's Athletic's McGrath, Shamrock Rovers' Sean Heaney, Derry City's Ronan Curtis and Dundalk's Ciaran O'Connor.
'We have always had a strong representation of SSE Airtricity League players in the Under 21 squad with Kevin O'Connor and Sean Maguire, who both helped Cork City win the Irish Daily Mail FAI Cup last weekend, in our most recent squad,' said King.
'There has been a steady flow of League players in our squads, which shows that the League is producing players and that they are there on merit. It is when they come into the squad whether they can step up to international football. That is why we include them.'
King extends that perspective throughout the squad and wants the players to use these two friendly games as an opportunity to impress.
'Czech Republic will be strong and Slovakia are technically very good, so they are good games for us to get and it's important that we learn as much as we can from them,' said King.
'We will know a lot more about these players after the two games and that is what this is all about. But I think we are more advanced at this stage in building the base of our squad and that gives us hope for the coming campaign.'
Republic of Ireland Under 21 Squad
Goalkeepers: Liam Bossin (Anderlecht), Kieran O'Hara (Manchester United)
Defenders: Noe Baba (Birmingham City), Danny Kane (Huddersfield Town), Ryan Sweeney (Stoke City), Sean Heaney (Shamrock Rovers), Declan Rice (West Ham United), Corey Whelan (Liverpool), Shaun Donnellan (West Bromwich Albion), Dylan Barnett (Brighton & Hove Albion)
Midfielders: Josh Cullen (Bradford City*), Jack Byrne (Blackburn Rovers*), Ronan Curtis (Derry City), Dylan Watts (Leicester City), Connor Dimaio (Chesterfield), Liam Kinsella (Walsall), Jamie McGrath (St Patrick's Athletic), Harry Charsley (Everton)
Forwards: Tyrone Duffus (Everton), Olamide Shodipo (Queens Park Rangers), Ciaran O'Connor (Dundalk), Jake Mulraney (Inverness Caledonian Thistle)
*Indicates player is currently on loan
Fixtures
Saturday, November 12: Republic of Ireland v Czech Republic, KO 17:30
Tuesday, November 15: Republic of Ireland v Slovakia, KO 13:00