Withdrawals leave King frustrated

Ahead of today’s concluding Uefa qualifier against Italy in Casarano, Ireland U21 boss Noel King has admitted he’s disappointed with some of the withdrawals from his squad.

Ireland went into Thursday’s penultimate qualifier in Hungary still with qualification prospects for next year’s finals but those were dented by three pull-outs.

James Collins, Conor Clifford and Niall Canavan all cried off the international double-header last weekend only to feature for their League One clubs since.