New faces in Ireland U21 squad for Sweden double-header

Jim Crawford has named a squad of 24 players in his Republic of Ireland Under-21 squad for two upcoming friendly internationals with Sweden in Marbella.

The selection is based on players eligible for the next campaign, with only players born during, or after, 2004 being allowed to feature in the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualifiers.

The Sweden double-header is seen as an opportunity for Crawford and his coaching staff to look at players from this age range before competitive games begin next year.

James Abankwah (eight caps), Mark O'Mahony and Rocco Vata (five caps each) will be the most experienced of the players in the group.

Conor O’Brien, Adam Murphy, Alex Murphy, Sean Grehan and Ed McJannet also gained experience in the last campaign, when Ireland narrowly missed out on qualification for the 2025 European Championships.

There are first international call-ups for Jacob Slater of Brighton & Hove Albion, Gabriel Otegbayo of Sheffield Wednesday and Adrien Thibaut of Crewe Alexandra. Franco Umeh misses out due to injury.

Speaking ahead of the games, Jim Crawford said: "This is a great opportunity to look at all our options ahead of qualification games next year. Much of the squad would have come through our international pathway, but for most this is their first involvement in an Under-21s squad.

"This will be a great experience for them, and having the likes of James Abankwah, Mark O’Mahony and Rocco Vata involved, who were all a key part in the last campaign, is huge as we expect them to have a big role going forward.

"The same goes for Sam Curtis, we’ve seen his quality, but he’ll remain with his club for this window as he has an opportunity for important minutes with his club that will further his development