Joe Hodge 'buzzing' for senior Ireland shot but U21 duties call first

STEPPING UP: Joe Hodge of the Republic of Ireland in action against Artem Bondarenko of Ukraine during the U21 International friendly. Pic: Blaz Weindorfer, Sportsfile

Joe Hodge is hoping progress made at club level can be echoed on the international scene as he prepares for action with the Republic of Ireland U21s and then a planned promotion to John O’Shea’s senior squad.

That call-up to the men’s side is a first for the small but talented midfielder who endured a torturous first half of the season that was beset by injuries but has since picked up with a January loan move from Wolves to Queens Park Rangers.

QPR boss Martí Cifuentes feels Hodge has the technical skills to blossom in the tight spaces closer to goal and so has been using the 21-year-old in a more attacking midfield role than he is accustomed to.

He has played half-a-dozen times for the London club since the start of February, scoring on his debut against Blackburn, although the majority of his appearances have come off the bench for a team struggling at the wrong end of the Championship.

“I am enjoying it,” he said on Thursday. “It is different for me and I am trying to figure out how to be more creative and more influential higher up the pitch. The gaffer is working with me on that, going through clips.

“I do still think that playing deep is my best position. One of my strengths is out of possession so that definitely suits me more but I will do whatever the gaffer asks me to do, do the best I can.” 

Hodge has been highly-rated for years now, going back to his time in the underage ranks at Manchester City, and he has been a key figure for Jim Crawford’s U21 side which he is still serving as captain.

Sunderland's Callum Styles battles for the ball against Queens Park Rangers' Joe Hodge. Pic: Owen Humphreys, PA Wire.

The senior call came last week and he will link up with John O’Shea and company on the back of Friday’s U21 Euro 2025 qualifier away to San Marino on Friday. A huge week, then, for the Manchester-born player.

“I can’t wait to get there. John called me last week to tell me I was in the squad and I was buzzing. It’s obviously what every player wants and I am no different in that. I’ve wanted that for a long time. Hopefully, I can come in and make my debut.” 

First things first, though. The U21s are engaged in another nip-and-tuck race for what would be a first-ever qualification for a major tournament at the grade, currently sitting second in the Group A table and one point behind Italy.

Norway sit a point behind in third and Ireland will be looking to bounce back from a deeply disappointing window in November when they lost 3-2 in Norway having led 2-1 and conceded an injury-time equaliser to Italy in Turner’s Cross.

“We can just take a lot of confidence from it,” said Hodge of that latter result. “I was there. I went down to Cork and the lads put in an unbelievable performance and there is no reason against the top teams why we can’t perform like that.

“We should have come away with the three points but maybe that is something we can learn, the game management in the last five or ten minutes of the game, but we can really back ourselves against these top teams and achieve something.”