After missing two earlier chances, Zack Elbouzedi was relieved to be Ireland’s matchwinner in Armenia to keep their Euro U21 qualification journey on track.

Stephen Kenny has said that he is delighted for Troy Parrott that the 17-year-old Spurs player has received his first senior Ireland call-up even though it means the U21 manager will be without his star striker for next Thursday’s Euro 2021 qualifier away to Armenia.

Derby County pair Tom Lawrence and Mason Bennett have avoided prison after they admitted drink-driving over a crash which left their club captain and Republic of Ireland international Richard Keogh seriously injured.

“I’m feeling very well. Obviously I had a stay (in hospital) in Sweden and there is probably not a better health system you could have than in Sweden so it wasn’t the worse place to be not well in.

Mick McCarthy has offered his support to Richard Keogh, as the veteran Irish defender begins his recovery from the career-threatening knee injury which he sustained in a car crash last Tuesday night following which two of his Derby County teammates - Tom Lawrence and Mason Bennett - were charged with drink-driving.

Republic of Ireland international Richard Keogh could be out of football until December 2020 after damaging two knee ligaments in last week’s car crash.

That I can say I feel for Richard Keogh this morning is not the same as saying that he was not guilty of an appalling error of judgment, to put it at its mildest, for his involvement in the events which culminated in the car crash on Tuesday night. One that saw two of his Derby County team mates arrested on drink-driving charges and the club captain and Irish international sustaining a serious knee injury.

As Mick McCarthy heaped more praise on Stephen Kenny’s Ireland U21s, striker Adam Idah is adamant the squad are comfortable with the growing hype surrounding them.

Such are the riches of talent constantly emerging, Ireland U21 manager Stephen Kenny admits he’s finding it difficult to settle on his preferred starting team.

Mick McCarthy's men face Switzerland in a "huge" Euro2020 qualifier on September 5 before a friendly with Bulgaria five days later.

Debut U21 call-ups for Troy Parrott, Michael Obafemi and Johnathan Afolabi have reinforced the sense of a rich vein of attacking talent bubbling up in Irish football, something further underlined in Stephen Kenny’s latest squad announcement by a decision to make a distinction on paper between ‘central midfielders’ and ‘attacking midfielder

Bournemouth midfielder Gavin Kilkenny and Danny McNamara, who is currently on loan at Newport County also recieved their first call-ups.

Mick McCarthy has named his Ireland squad for the forthcoming European Championship qualifier against Switzerland and the friendly with Bulgaria.

Six games into his reign as Ireland U21 manager and Stephen Kenny believes his side are gearing up well to reach a first-ever major tournament.

Stephen Kenny insists his U21 heroes will relish their Toulon Tournament semi-final against Brazil.

Stephen Kenny hailed his Ireland U21 side’s quickfire start in yesterday’s demolition of China.

Conor Hourihane’s first taste of competitive English football was a League Two draw between Plymouth Argyle and Shrewsbury Town at the compact New Meadow Stadium just shy of eight years ago.

It will be the first time since 2002 that Ireland have competed in the tournament.

The call-up will be a boost for Connell after his club, Bolton Wanderers, went into administration following their relegation from the Championship.

Colin O’Brien has heaped praise on the efforts of his U17 players after a 1-1 draw with Belgium in Tallaght on Thursday saw Ireland fall short of claiming a quarter-final berth in the European Championships.

Ireland manager Colin O’Brien is talking about the progress being made by Gavin Bazunu, the precocious goalkeeping talent who joined Manchester City from Shamrock Rovers earlier this year, when he offloads a timely reminder of the still tender years of all the players who are now busily gearing up to represent their country in the U17 European Championship finals which kick off in Dublin on Friday.

Manager Colin O’Brien is hoping for the green light from Spurs to allow Troy Parrott to join up with the Irish U17 squad ahead of the Euro Finals which kick off on Friday.

It was against Georgia at Lansdowne Road in 2015 that Jeff Hendrick announced himself on the Irish scene, but his mission in tonight’s rematch is to restore rather than enhance his reputation.

The right side of defence isn’t the most alluring of sectors on a teamsheet but all eyes will gravitate there when the first starting XI of Mick McCarthy’s second stint in charge of the Republic of Ireland is released today.

The parallels are striking. For Liechtenstein in Vaduz almost 23 years ago read Gibraltar in the Victoria Stadium on Saturday.

When Richard Keogh sits before you with his right hand almost totally encased in a protective cast and bandaging, he looks for all the world like a player who is about to tell you how gutted he is to have to sit out the next game through injury.

Shamrock Rovers midfielder Jack Byrne has received a last-minute call-up to replace the injured Callum O'Dowda in Mick McCarthy's first Republic of Ireland squad back in charge.

Mick McCarthy has named his Republic of Ireland squad for the EURO 2020 Qualifiers against Gibraltar and Georgia.

Also included is Aston Villa's Glenn Whelan, who was expected to have played his last game for Ireland after captaining the side in a 36-minute ceremonial cameo against Northern Ireland in November.

McCarthy saw both current and potential Ireland internationals notch goals on his scouting trip on Saturday.

Against Leicester City on Sunday, Manchester United produced their worst performance under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s short stewardship.

The English Championship is to the Premier League what Puma is to adidas. Well regarded in its own right — at last count the third most-watched league in Europe — it will always exist in the shadow of its bigger brother, writes Brendan O'Brien.

Midfielder Glenn Whelan will lead Ireland out as captain against Northern Ireland for what will be his 85th senior appearance. The Aston Villa man will not be part of the squad for the Denmark game.

A comedy own goal by Jayden Bogle denied Derby County a third successive win and a place at the top of the table as they drew with Middlesbrough in the lunchtime kick-off.

In Giroud’s absence, Morata floundered again.

Richard Keogh says the Irish team has loved playing under Martin O’Neill and backed the manager to cope with the heaviest criticism of his time in charge.

U17 International Ireland 4 Turkey 1

The Republic of Ireland fall behind to an early goal and it is a beautifully crafted strike.

Glenn Whelan will be given the honour of leading Ireland out against Northern Ireland in the friendly at the Aviva in November.

Chaotic scenes marred Ireland’s elimination from the U17 European Championship at the quarter-final stage last night in Chesterfield, England.

Under-17 European Championship finals (Group C)

O'Shea is expected to make his 250th appearance for Sunderland tomorrow on his 37th birthday.

Shane Duffy was named the FAI Senior Player of the Year for 2017 last night but the big Brighton defender was unable to collect his award in person as the weather took its toll on the annual televised ceremony in RTÉ, with the programme having to be shortened from a scheduled running time of 90 minutes to one hour.

In calling up Declan Rice to his squad for this month’s training camp and friendly in Turkey, Martin O’Neill has stressed that the highly-rated young West Ham defender, who is still eligible to play senior football for both Ireland and England, will not come under any pressure to decide his international future.