King names U21 squad for Portugal friendly

Republic of Ireland U21 head coach Noel King has named his squad for a friendly international against Portugal at Tallaght Stadium on Monday, March 25 (7.30pm).

King has kept with the squad that beat the Netherlands 3-0 in a friendly at the same venue last month thanks to goals from Aiden O’Brien and Anthony Forde.

“Portugal are another top tier nation so this will be another huge challenge for us but after our last two victories over Holland and Italy we will go into the game with a lot of confidence,” said King.

“Obviously any time you play a team like Portugal you expect it to be a difficult game but we’ve gone with the same squad as last month as they all did well.

“We are still in the getting to know you stage with some of the newer faces and these matches and training sessions will be very useful in preparing for the UEFA Championships qualifiers which begin when we play the Faroe Islands in August.”

Republic of Ireland U21 squad:

Aaron McCarey Walsall FC (on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers FC)

Sean McDermott Sandnes Ulf FC

Shane Duffy Everton FC

Anthony O'Connor Burton Albion FC (on loan from Blackburn Rovers FC)

Derrick Williams Aston Villa FC

Matt Doherty Wolverhampton Wanderers FC

Joe Shaughnessy Aberdeen FC

Carl McHugh Bradford City FC

Cian Bolger Leicester City FC

Samir Carruthers Aston Villa FC

Callum Reilly Birmingham City FC

John O'Sullivan Blackburn Rovers FC

Kane Ferdinand Peterborough United FC

Frankie Sutherland QPR FC

Chris Forrester St Patrick’s Athletic FC

Sean Murray Watford FC

Anthony Forde Wolverhampton Wanderers FC

Aiden O’Brien Crawley Town (on loan from Millwall FC)