McCarthy answers Ireland’s U21 call-up

JAMES MCCARTHY has indicated his intention to join up with Ireland’s U21 panel for the European Championship qualifying games against Hungary and Turkey next month.

However, McCarthy is still said to be nursing an ankle injury he picked up in a pre-season friendly for Wigan and it remains to be seen if he will be fit enough to play in their Premier League game against QPR at the weekend.

Should the midfielder be ruled out of that game or fail to see out the 90 minutes then it would hardly be a shock to see him withdraw from the U21 squad.

In the meantime, it’s understood that the player confirmed his intention to join up with the U21s when manager Noel King spoke with him on Tuesday to notify him of his selection. McCarthy became available for the U21s after he was controversially dropped this week by Giovanni Trapattoni, although the Italian also indicated that, if required, he could still be called back into the senior panel for the upcoming games against Slovakia and Russia.

Yesterday, Noel King welcomed the player’s addition to the U21 panel for the games against Hungary at the Showgrounds, Sligo (Thursday, September 1, 7.30pm) and in Manisa, Turkey (Tuesday, September 6, 5.00pm Irish).

King said: “James will be a good addition to our squad. We are building a competitive squad now and if everybody that is eligible for this age group was fit it would be one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever had just to name the squad. James played in the last competitive game for the under-21s against Estonia so he knows most of the players. He has a great pedigree and everybody knows the talent he possesses. We’ve named James in the squad and he is fit to play. Hopefully all of the players will come through their club fixtures this weekend and steer clear of injuries.”