Republic of Ireland want to cap Hamilton Accies defender for U21s

Republic of Ireland want to cap Hamilton Accies defender Fergus Owens for their under-21 squad.

Lanarkshire Live Sport understands the defender, whose dad Campbell was the bass player in 1980s pop band Aztec Camera, could be snapped up by Ireland head coach Jim Crawford for their upcoming Euro 2025 Qualifying matches against Turkey and Latvia in September.

East Kilbride native Fergus turned 21 this week and qualifies for the nation through his mother, who is originally from Donegal. Should Owens be selected, he would join the likes of Celtic's Rocco Vata and Bosun Lawal, as well as Aberdeen's Killian Phillips in the squad.

The 6ft 2' centre-back spent the first part of the season on loan at League One rivals Kelty Hearts and impressed so much during his 11 appearances for the Fifers that he was recalled from the season-long loan in January.

He has since gone on to become a regular for Accies and scored the second goal in Hamilton's Championship play-off final first leg win over Inverness Caley Thistle last night, which ended in a 2-1 triumph for the hosts..

A graduate of the Accies academy at New Douglas Park, Owens also spent a six-month loan spell at Clydebank in 2021 and now has more than 30 first team appearances in the SPFL.

Just last month, he signed a two-year contract extension and boss John Rankin praised the strides he has made. He said: “I am delighted that Fergus has committed his future to the club.

"He has matured a lot this season and we can see in his performances he has made great progress, he is beginning to show good levels of consistency which for a young defender is essential. He has great attributes and if he continues to work hard at his game he will become a top defender.”

Follow Lanarkshire