Wanderers’ striker Conor Carty has received his first call-up to the Republic of Ireland U21 squad.
The B Team forward – who is currently on loan at League of Ireland side St Patrick’s Athletic – is included in a 26-man squad for friendlies against Gabon, Ukraine and Kuwait in Austria.
The games, played between Tuesday, 13 June and Monday, 19 June, will be used as preparation for Ireland’s Euro U21 qualifiers against Turkey and San Marino in September.
Carty joined Wanderers last summer after leaving Wolverhampton Wanderers and after scoring regularly for the B Team – as well as on his senior debut in a Papa Johns Trophy tie last September – was loaned out to gain first-team experience.
The 21-year-old had spells in the National League with Oldham Athletic and Gateshead before joining St Patrick’s at the start of their season in February.
County Wicklow-born Carty has since featured regularly for the Saints, scoring three times to help the Dublin-based side occupy a top-three place and challenge for the League of Ireland title with 16 games to go.
Republic of Ireland Under-21s squad:
Goalkeepers: Tiernan Brooks (Notts County), Killian Cahill (Brighton & Hove Albion), Josh Keeley (Tottenham Hotspur)
Defenders: James Abankwah (Udinese), Tayo Adaramola (Crystal Palace), Sam Curtis (St. Patrick’s Athletic) James Furlong (Brighton & Hove Albion), Anselmo Garcia MacNulty (Wolfsburg), Sean Grehan (Crystal Palace), Connor O’Riordan (Crewe Alexandra), Sean Roughan (Lincoln City)
Midfielders: Darragh Burns (MK Dons), Jack Henry-Francis (Arsenal), Joe Hodge (Wolves), Bosun Lawal (Celtic), Ed McJannet (Lecce), Killian Phillips (Crystal Palace), Rocco Vata (Celtic) Harry Vaughan (Hull City)
Forwards: Sinclair Armstrong (QPR), Conor Carty (St. Patrick’s Athletic on loan from Bolton Wanderers), Dylan Duffy (Lincoln City), Johnny Kenny (Shamrock Rovers, on loan from Celtic), Andrew Moran (Brighton & Hove Albion), Armstrong Oko-Flex (West Ham United), Ollie O’Neill (Derry City, on loan from Fulham)
Friendly dates:
Tuesday, June 13: Ireland U21 v Gabon U23 (KO 5pm)
Friday, June 16: Ukraine U21 v Ireland U21 (KO 5pm)
Monday, June 19: Ireland U21 v Kuwait U22 (KO 4pm)