No major surprises in Irish Under 21 squad

Murphy, the Waterford United hot-shot and Liam Paisley, the young defender from Longford Town, are the only two squad members currently plying their trade in the Eircom League.

The squad announcement will bring disappointment to some domestic-based players, however, as Cork City pair Liam Kearney and Kevin Doyle, both of whom have been showing up well in the Leesiders’ pre-season outings, are somewhat surprisingly overlooked on this occasion.

The 18-strong squad shows six changes from that which travelled to Portugal for last month’s friendly.

Celtic star Aiden McGeady, named in Brian Kerr’s senior squad for recent friendlies, returns to the under-21 group and Leeds United’s Henry McStay is also recalled, while Mark Quigley of Millwall continues in the squad after his recent breakthrough to the Lions’ first XI.

Huddersfield Town’s John McAliskey, Spurs’ Mark Yeates, Newcastle United’s Alan O’Brien and Stephen Brennan, Shelbourne’s new loan signing from Newcastle, are among those to miss out.

The game takes place in the Herzelia Stadium in Tel-Aviv on Friday, March 25th.

Republic of Ireland under-21 squad (Uefa qualifier v Israel, March 25th, 2005):

Goalkeepers: Henderson (Aston Villa), Deeney (Notts County).

Defenders: Foley (Luton Town), Kelly (Tottenham Hotspur)(pictured above), Fitzgerald (Blackburn Rovers – on loan to Bury), Kohlmann (Borussia Dortmund), Paisley (Longford Town).

Midfielders: Flood (Manchester City), McStay (Leeds United), Whelan (Sheffield Wednesday), Potter (Liverpool), O’Brien (Bolton Wanderers), Thornton (Sunderland), Bell (Rushden & Diamonds), McGeady (Celtic),

Forwards: Tabb (Brentford), Murphy (Waterford United), Quigley (Millwall).