Roy Keane: League of Ireland players should dream of national call-up

Roy Keane has said that League of Ireland players should be inspired by the example of Daryl Horgan, Andy Boyle, and Gary Rogers breaking into the Ireland squad while playing with champions Dundalk last season.

“It should be an inspiration, of course,” he said yesterday. “If you’re a player playing in the League of Ireland and you see what’s happened to the couple of lads who’ve been involved, the first thing you should ask yourself is, ‘why can’t that be me?’

“For Martin (O’Neill) and myself, it’s certainly not a PR exercise (attending LOI games). We go because we enjoy watching League of Ireland players and we enjoy looking at players we think might and will get the opportunity to come into the senior squad.