Cunningham keen to make the cut

TO say that Greg Cunningham has been plucked from obscurity might be to misrepresent the case of a player who, after all, makes his home amongst the would-be galacticos of Manchester City.

But after a season in which he made his debut for the Blues, got his first call-up to the Republic of Ireland squad for the friendly against Brazil and then, two nights ago, made his first senior appearance in the green shirt in a training game against the Irish U23s, it certainly seems as if the 19-year-old Galwegian is on a fast-track into the limelight.

Giovanni Trapattoni’s decision to retain the players in his developmental squad for next week’s friendlies against Paraguay and Algeria, means Cunningham now has to miss out on Ireland’s U19 European Championship qualifiers in the Ukraine.