Friendly
06.04.2010 at 19:30 - Tolka Park
Republic of Ireland Under-19 manager Sean McCaffrey has unveiled his starting team for tonight's first match of a double-header against Poland at Tolka Park (7.30pm).
With the UEFA Championship Elite stage qualifiers coming up soon on May 26- 31 against England, Bosnia-Herzegovina and mini-group hosts Ukraine, McCaffrey will use these pair of matches to assess his squad personnel options as well as focus the players' minds on the task that they can expect during the qualifiers.
Goalkeeper Ian McLoughlin (Ipswich Town) and midfielder Thomas McBride (Derry City) will win their first Republic of Ireland caps and many more newcomers could feature from the substitute's bench or in Thursday's rematch, also at Tolka Park (7.30pm).
McCaffrey is without some of his mainstays for this week's matches. Robert Brady of Manchester United is injured while Conor Clifford (Chelsea), Greg Cunningham (Manchester City), Johnny Dunleavy (Wolves) and Plymouth Argyle first-teamer Joe Mason have clubs commitments to attend to.
"We'll be giving some new lads a try-out in these matches which is essential because over previous seasons, we lost a couple of players through injury when it comes around to the Elite stage qualifiers," said McCaffrey.
"Most of these lads were involved in the recent training camp we held at Bisham Abbey when we played a useful friendly against Arsenal's reserve side.
"There are only a few weeks to go until the qualifiers in Ukraine and it's vital we start preparing the squad for the challenges they can expect against the quality opposition we'll face there.
"Poland are also gearing up for their Elite phase qualifiers and beat Denmark in the first phase to progress. I think we're in for two good matches and the Irish public have a great opportunity to come to see the potential stars of the future."
Republic of Ireland U19 team v Poland (April 6):
Ian McLoughlin - Ipswich Town
Richie Towell - Celtic
Shane McEleney - Derry City
Rob Kiernan - Kilmarnock
Shaun Timmins - Birmingham City
Aaron Doran - Blackburn Rovers
Thomas McBride - Derry City
Conor Hourihane - Sunderland
Conor Henderson - Arsenal
Jimmy Keohane - Wexford Youths
Ronan Murray - Ipswich Town
Substitutes:
Ger Hanley - Mervue United
Padraic Ormsby - Shamrock Rovers
Cian Bolger - Leicester City
Gavin Gunning - Rotherham United
Sean Kinsella - Plymouth Argyle
Daniel Kearns - West Ham United
Jamil Adam - Barnsley
Charlie Collins - MK Dons
Nathan Rooney - Wolves
Gary Burke - Bohemians
Ryan Brennan - Drogheda United
U19 friendly Internationals:
Tuesday 6 April
Republic of Ireland v Poland
Tolka Park, 7.30pm
Thursday 8 April
Republic of Ireland v Poland
Tolka Park, 7.30pm.
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