European Qualifier
05.10.2001 at 19:30 - Flancare Park - Longford
Ireland U21 manager Don Givens has made five changes in the side for tonight's clash with Cyprus at Longford despite their impressive 1-1 draw with Holland last month. He insisted: "We've got to look to the future."
Givens awards new caps to Celtic trio Liam Miller, Michael Doyle and Jim Goodwin as well as Nottingham Forest pair John Thompson and Andy Reid.
There are no places for the likes of long-time U21 captain Barry Quinn from Coventry and Richard Sadlier of Millwall who were heroes against the Dutch.
But Givens explained: "It is all about the next European Championship qualifying campaign now.
"We've got to look ahead and the number one priority is still always to develop lads for the senior squad.
"We can't get to the European finals this time but we would like to finish up with a victory.
"A lot of the lads I have brought in seem to have been neglected at their clubs and so this is a chance for them to put themselves in the shop window."
Manchester United reserve centre-back John O'Shea takes over the captaincy and Arsenal's Graham Barrett, who scored against the Dutch, is another survivor.
Sunderland winger Tommy Butler also gets another outing along with Forest full-back Keith Foy, Tranmere goalkeeper Joe Murphy and West Ham's Shaun Byrne.
* Northern Ireland manager Sammy McIlroy is delighted with David Healy's strike rate of seven goals in 14 appearances. Colin Clarke holds the North's goalscoring record with 13 and at Healy's current rate of knots, he should better that tally within the next 18 months.
But in addition to this, McIlroy feels he has developed other aspects of his game.
Healy has only managed one goal in 10 games for Preston this season, but he created three in their 4-0 win over Norwich recently in front of McIlroy.
McIlroy feels this is an area where the ex-Manchester United reserve has really improved.
"I saw him against Norwich the other week and even though he didn't get on the scoresheet, I thought his all-round play was excellent and he was involved in three of the four goals," he said.
"He's not just about scoring goals now and he's involved in the link-up play and setting up goals as well."
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