Irish call-up for Villa young gun Williams

Republic of Ireland U21 team manager Noel King has added Aston Villa’s Derrick Williams to his squad for the forthcoming UEFA Championships qualifiers against Hungary and Italy.

The Irish meet Hungary in Kecskemét tomorrow before travelling to the south of Italy to meet the Italians in Casarano on Monday.

Williams, 19, has been on the bench for Villa recently and is the latest member of the Irish U19 side that reached the UEFA Championships semi-finals last year to progress to U21 level. Wolves winger Anthony Forde was drafted over the weekend while Jeff Hendrick (Derby) Sean Murray (Watford), Samir Carruthers (Aston Villa), John Egan (Sunderland) and Aaron McCarey (Wolves) were also in the same U19 squad last year.