Kenny happy to hold fire on Everton prospect Cannon

Republic of Ireland boss Stephen Kenny is happy to hold off on calling up Everton prospect Tom Cannon as he continues to hone a new-look forward line.

Cannon has impressed at Preston North End since making a loan move to Deepdale in January. Indeed the 20-year-old has kept Troy Parrott out of the team in recent weeks, scoring three times in the last five games.

On Wednesday he was named in Jim Crawford's U-21s squad for the friendly against Iceland at Turner's Cross on Sunday week.

With Callum Robinson nursing a hamstring injury and Adam Idah a doubt for the upcoming games against Latvia and France, it's not unreasonable to ponder if Cannon could be parachuted into Kenny's squad alongside the likes of Evan Ferguson, Parrott, Michael Obafemi and Chiedozie Ogbene should Idah withdraw.

However the boss stressed the talented attacker needs patience and time to keep developing.

"Tom is an Everton player," Kenny told RTÉ Sport. "He had been in the [Ireland] U-19s but the whole U-19 period was ruled out with Covid at the time so he missed that, and he comes into the U-21s.

"I'm sure he's a big part of Jim Crawford's plans for the game in Turner's Cross next week. He's certainly on our radar and of course we [watch] Preston because we've got Alan Browne, Robbie Brady and Troy Parrott playing there.

"We've seen Tom. He's got speed, threatens the last line and scored a couple of goals recently. He's had a really good introduction to the Preston team."

Kenny has the luxury of some selections headaches as he continues to blood fresh faces into the panel.

Celtic winger Mikey Johnston is the latest new recruit. The Glasgow-born 23-year-old could make his debut against Latvia after receiving his FIFA international clearance last week.

There'll