Givens names 18-man squad for Under-21 qualifiers

Republic of Ireland Under-21 manager Don Givens today named an 18-man squad for next month’s double-header UEFA Under-21 European Championship qualifying matches away to Georgia and Armenia.

David Meyler, Ian Bermingham, Lanre Oyebanjo and Darren Dennehy all return to the squad having missed the matches against Georgia and Switzerland earlier this month through injury.

The quartet take their place in the squad alongside experienced Under-21 players such as Owen Garvan, Stephen Gleeson and Alan Judge, as well as Callum Morris, Seamus Conneely and Cian Hughton, all of whom made their Under-21 debuts earlier this month and have retained their places in the squad.

Givens said: "Up until now we have performed a lot better than our results would suggest. Our approach play has been good; we just haven’t been finishing chances.

"We haven’t been scoring goals and that is what has us in this situation. We’re working hard to rectify that and if we put in two good performances in Georgia and Armenia then we should be capable of recording two wins."

Republic of Ireland Under-21 full-back Seamus Coleman returned from a serious foot injury to take part in the matches against Georgia and Switzerland earlier this month. Those matches helped the former Sligo Rovers defender back to full fitness and recent weeks have seen Coleman push for a place in the Everton first team.

Donegal-born Coleman made his debut for Everton in the Europa League against Benfica and although the Portuguese side ran out 5-0 winners, Coleman went on to make his Premiership debut the following week away to Bolton Wanderers.

Republic of Ireland Under-21 squad v Georgia & Armenia:

Shane Redmond

Stephen Henderson

Seamus Coleman

Callum Morris

Brendan Moloney

Lanre Oyebanjo

Darren Dennehy

Ian Bermingham

Cian Hughton

Seamus Conneely

James McCarthy

David Meyler

Stephen Gleeson

Owen Garvan

Alan Judge

Cillian Sheridan

James Collins

Jay O’Shea