Republic of Ireland Under-17s manager Colin O’Brien hopes to know by Monday evening whether or not Tottenham striker Troy Parrott will be allowed to join up with his squad for the European Championships, which kick off for the hosts with a game against Greece in Tallaght on Friday night.
“We’re just waiting on the final decision from Spurs,” said O’Brien as he announced his squad on Monday morning. “It’s something you have to just be patient on and respectful of, with everything that’s going on at the club. The aim is that we will have a decision today.”
Parrott has missed a portion of the season through injury but has done well when fit for the London club, and could feature in an Under-23 game against Derby on Monday night. He would be one of only a couple of players in the Ireland squad with experience of playing at this level, having been a part of the group that reached the quarter-finals last year in England where he scored three goals in four games.
Still, the knock-on effects of injuries to first team squad members of Spurs has left O’Brien in a little bit of limbo and one place has effectively been left free in the squad, to be filled before Thursday when the list for the Ireland’s opening game must be submitted.
“There have been a lot of issues with Spurs in terms of players being injured etc and what happens at clubs basically is that some players get moved up through the ranks,” he says. “Look at (16-year-old Shamrock Rovers left back) James Furlong on Friday night; two different level clubs maybe but it’s the same principle...Rovers had suspensions, injuries and it’s great to see James play the full 90 minutes against Dundalk.
“So the same type of principle but we’ve been prepared for that. If Troy’s available, he’ll be an addition, we haven’t had him all season but we have other players ready to go.”
The squad will gather in Dublin on Monday and get a taste for the game in Tallaght with a trip to the league game the same evening, before settling into their final preparations for the tournament on Tuesday morning.
“We’ll be bringing them to Tallaght tonight so they can see the League of Ireland game between Shamrock Rovers and Pats; we want them to see the stadium with a decent crowd in it,” says O’Brien.
“They have sampled playing there so it’s about building the excitement for them. It’s important that they see the stadium another way. We’ll do our first pitch session tomorrow, Wednesday, Thursday and we will be ready to play Greece on Friday night.
Republic of Ireland Under-17 Squad:
Goalkeepers: Gavin Bazunu (Manchester City), Jimmy Corcoran (Preston North End), Harry Halwax (Derby County)
Defenders: Sean McEvoy (Ballinmallard United), Anselmo Garcia McNulty (Real Betis), Luke Turner (Aberdeen), Andrew Omobamidele (Norwich City), Timi Sobowale (Manchester City), James Furlong (Shamrock Rovers)
Midfielders: Charlie McCann (Manchester United), Joe Hodge (Manchester City), Brandon Holt (St Patrick’s Athletic), Seamas Keogh (Southampton), Ronan McKinley (Derry City), Sean Kennedy (Sunderland), Festy Ebsoele (Derby County)
Forwards: Matt Everitt (Brighton & Hove Albion), Conor Carty (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Joshua Giurgi (Norwich City)
Group A fixtures:
Friday, May 3rd: Republic of Ireland v Greece, Tallaght Stadium (kick-off 7.0pm)
Monday, May 6th: Republic of Ireland v Czech Republic, RSC Waterford (kick-off 7.0pm)
Thursday, May 9th: Republic of Ireland v Belgium, Tallaght Stadium (kick-off 7.0pm)
