Midfielder Owen Garvan has been forced to pull out of the Republic of Ireland U21 squad travelling to Montenegro for Friday's European Championships qualifier due to the calf strain he suffered in Saturday's 6-0 thrashing of Bristol City.

Garvan will stay behind at Portman Road, but has not been ruled out of the game with Bulgaria in Athlone a week on Tuesday. Team-mate Billy Clarke is also in the squad for the Bulgaria match, but is not involved in the trip to Montenegro.

Physio Matt Byard told the club site: "Owen has a muscle strain in his right calf and will not be meeting up with the Republic of Ireland squad this week.

"You are normally looking at seven to 10 days as a recovery period for this type of injury, but we will monitor his progress and liaise with the Ireland medical team.
"He has not yet been ruled out of the second game. It will be down to how his recovery goes and his level of fitness."

Town are confident that Alan Lee's achilles injury is nothing serious and that the frontman will be able to take his place in the line-up when the Blues take on his old side Cardiff City on November 24th. Lee limped off during the first half of Saturday's game with the results of a scan expected on Tuesday.

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