Republic of Ireland Under-21 Manager Stephen Kenny has named his squad for a February training camp. The majority of the U-21 training camp squad has been selected from the SSE Airtricity League with two players selected from the Northern Irish Prem
Republic of Ireland Under-21 Manager Stephen Kenny has named his squad for a February training camp.
The majority of the U-21 training camp squad has been selected from the SSE Airtricity League with two players selected from the Northern Irish Premiership in Crusaders striker Ronan Hale and Linfield striker Michael O'Connor.
All of the players are eligible for the upcoming UEFA U-21 European Championships campaign, which starts in March against Luxembourg at Tallaght Stadium.
Bohemians have had four players called up with nine different SSE Airtricity League clubs represented in the squad. There are call-ups for Sligo Rovers centre-back John Mahon, Cork City defender Conor McCarthy, St. Patrick's Athletic midfielder Jamie Lennon and also included are the UCD trio of Conor Kearns, Liam Scales and Neil Farrugia.
The training squad will take on the Ireland Amateur team in a friendly game at Whitehall Stadium on Wednesday, February 6 at 19:45.
Kenny has also named his backroom team for the upcoming campaign. Keith Andrews, former Ireland international who is part of the current FAI UEFA Pro Licence course, will become assistant coach alongside Jim Crawford, who leaves his role as Ireland Under-18 Head Coach. Former League of Ireland winner Dan Connor will continue his role of goalkeeping coach with the U-21s.
Damien Doyle will join as the Strength and Conditioning Coach, Gary Seery comes in as Performance Analyst with the medical staff being Ronan Kearney, Team Doctor, and Kevin Mulholland, physiotherapist.
Kenny has also announced that the U-21s will take part in the 2019 Toulon Tournament. Ireland have previously competed in the tournament six times and will travel to France in June.
Republic of Ireland U-21 Training squad
Goalkeepers: Conor Kearns (UCD), Ross Treacy (Dundalk)
Defenders: Andy Lyons (Bohemians), Darragh Leahy (Bohemians), Conor McCarthy (Cork City), Trevor Clarke (Shamrock Rovers), Liam Scales (UCD), John Mahon (Sligo Rovers).
Midfielders: Dan Mandriou (Bohemians), Will Fitzgerald (Limerick), Aaron Bolger (Shamrock Rovers), JJ Lunney (Waterford), Jamie Lennon (St. Patrick's Athletic), Brandon Kavanagh (Shamrock Rovers), Robbie McCourt (Bohemians).
Forwards: Ronan Hale (Crusaders), Neil Farrugia (UCD), Michael O'Connor (Linfield), Will Fitzgerald (Limerick), Zach Elbouzedi (Waterford), Karl O'Sullivan (Limerick).
Republic of Ireland U-21 Coaching Staff
Manager: Stephen Kenny
Assistant Coaches: Keith Andrews, Jim Crawford
Strength and Conditioning Coach: Damien Doyle
Goalkeeping Coach: Dan Connor
Performance Analyst: Gary Seery
Physiotherapist: Kevin Mulholland
Team Doctor: Ronan Kearney
Keith Andrews: The former Republic of Ireland international, who was capped 35 times for his country, scoring three goals, joins the U-21 staff as assistant coach. Andrews returns to work for the FAI having been part of Colin O'Brien's coaching staff with the Republic of Ireland U-17s when they reached the quarter-finals of the European Championships in 2017.
Jim Crawford: The former Newcastle United, Bohemians and Shelbourne player, who played for Ireland at U-21 level, also joins the staff as assistant coach. Crawford leaves his role as Head Coach of the Republic of Ireland U-18 side, who recently beat the Netherlands and Belgium, to join Kenny's staff.
Dan Connor: The former Drogheda United and Waterford United goalkeeper continues his role with the squad having joined the coaching staff under Noel King in 2017. Connor currently works at English Championship club Wigan Athletic as Lead Academy Goalkeeping Coach.
Damien Doyle: Doyle has over 20 years of experience in the Strength and Conditioning/Sports Science field having worked for a number of clubs in the UK. Damien has worked for Brentford, MK Dons, Leicester City, Oxford United and recently acted as a consultant for Charlton Athletic.
Gary Seery: Gary joins the U-21 coaching staff from the Republic of Ireland Women's National Team. Seery was performance analyst for the WNT for six years, working under managers Sue Ronan and Colin Bell. Currently the FAI Development Officer for Offaly, Seery has extensive analysis and coaching experience.
Kevin Mulholland: Kevin continues his role with the U-21s having joined the staff in 2014. The Dundalk native currently works at English Premier League club Southampton as the first-team lead performance and injury prevention physiotherapist having previously worked for Sheffield Wednesday and Crewe Alexandra.
Ronan Kearney: Ronan joins the U-21 staff having previously worked with the Republic of Ireland U-18 squad. Kearney has a lot of international experience and is a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
