Academy trio Josh Carson, Rory McKeown and Cormac Burke are away with the Northern Ireland U18 squad at the Syrenka Tournament in Poland this week.
Midfielder Carson was on the bench for the Carling Cup tie at Exeter, but manager Roy Keane says he didn’t consider withdrawing the 17-year-old from international duty for tonight’s match at Crewe: "I don’t begrudge these players the opportunity to go and play for their countries, particularly when we have the numbers anyway at the moment.”