Uncapped Ed McGinty and Josh Keeley primed amid Ireland's back-up goalkeeper crisis

IRELAND'S CALL UP: Shamrock Rovers' Ed McGinty is expected to be called up to the Ireland squad. Pic: ©INPHO/Bryan Keane.

Derry City’s Brian Maher has been ruled out for another 10 weeks but his fellow member of the goalkeeping union, Ed McGinty, is primed for an Ireland call-up.

Injuries to Caoimhín Kelleher’s understudies Gavin Bazunu and Max O’Leary have shrunk the back-up options for Thursday week’s World Cup playoff semi-final in Czechia.

Uncapped stopper McGinty of Shamrock Rovers was named on Heimir Hallgrímsson’s provisional squad list and is now expected to make the cut when the Icelander unveils his final selection on Thursday.

Stoke City manager Mark Robins admitted Bazunu’s injury will extend beyond the international break.

O’Leary is next in line, having made his debut against Luxembourg last summer, but he was substituted for West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, hobbling off against Hull City with an ankle injury.

Four-times capped Mark Travers, No 2 at Everton, will likely be recalled with the third spot a battle between Luton Town’s Josh Keeley and former Sligo Rovers and Oxford United custodian McGinty.

Maher would ordinarily be in the mix too, having been first-choice for the Ireland U21s in the past, but a hand injury rules him out of a double-header that will be completed against either Denmark or North Macedonia – either for a World Cup place or merely pride.

Maher (25) trained with the senior squad, alongside Kelleher, Bazunu and Travers, when John O’Shea was in caretaker charge for the friendlies against Belgium and Switzerland in March 2024.

When the injury last month denied Maher his 100th consecutive appearance for Derry, the timeline appeared to be a number of weeks. That prognosis has since expanded.

“Brian needs an operation,” said Derry boss Tiernan Lynch after Monday’s scoreless draw at St Patrick’s Athletic.

“Brian got a scan last week. He obviously went into a cast and when he came out of the cast and got re-scanned the crack's not healing so it looks like he's going to have to go in and get an operation for it.

“We're not 100% sure but you’re probably looking eight to 10 weeks.

“It's not a quick fix thing. Everybody knows that Brian Maher is arguably one of the best goalkeepers in the country so it's a big loss for us.”