Loanee defender Darren O’Dea has been confirmed in the Republic of Ireland squad for their friendly against Norway in Dublin on Wednesday. The Celtic man was named in the preliminary squad but Town were in talks with the FAI regarding his inclusion in the final party.
The 23-year-old centre-half or left-back was on the Blues bench on Saturday but wasn’t considered fit enough to start having undergone a knee operation a month ago, which had been expected to keep him out of action for six weeks.
Speaking on Friday, manager Roy Keane said the club were speaking to the Irish management about O’Dea’s situation: "Conversations are going on with the medical staff over there. We don’t want him going over there if he isn’t going to get any minutes. The priority with him is to get some minutes under his belt.”
O’Dea’s subsequent inclusion suggests he may win his third full cap against the Norwegians with a number of players having already ruled themselves out and with Preston’s Sean St Ledger also a doubt due to a knee problem.
Former Blue Jon Walters is included in a full squad for the first time having previously been capped at U21 and B levels.
If he had remained behind, O’Dea would have been included in Tuesday’s behind-closed-doors friendly at Norwich alongside the likes of Alan Quinn, Colin Healy and Luciano Civelli. Quinn has been out of action since the summer with a groin problem, while Healy has recently been sidelined with hamstring and groin strains and Civelli is continuing his comeback from his serious knee injury.
The Blues have a number of other players away on international duty this week. Tamás Priskin and Márton Fülöp are with Hungary for their friendly with Lithuania in Budapest, also on Wednesday.
Gareth McAuley has withdrawn from the full Northern Ireland squad facing Morocco in a friendly due to the achilles tendinitis, which is set to keep him out for another couple of weeks, but Josh Carson and Caolan Lavery are in the Northern Irish U21s for their friendly in Scotland, again on Wednesday.
Defender Troy Brown has received his first U21 call from Wales for their Wednesday friendly against Austria.
Republic of Ireland: Shay Given - Manchester City, Keiren Westwood - Coventry City, John O'Shea - Manchester United, Seamus Coleman - Everton, Sean St. Ledger - Preston North End, Greg Cunningham - Leicester City, Kevin Foley - Wolves, Stephen Kelly - Fulham, Darren O'Dea - Ipswich Town, Marc Wilson - Stoke City, Darron Gibson - Manchester United, Glenn Whelan - Stoke City, Paul Green - Derby County, Liam Lawrence - Portsmouth, Stephen Hunt - Wolves, Aiden McGeady - Spartak Moscow, Keith Treacy - Preston North End, Damien Duff - Fulham, Keith Fahey - Birmingham City, Jonathan Walters - Stoke City, Kevin Doyle - Wolves, Shane Long - Reading.
Photo: ITFC