Stephen Kelly urges Michael Obafemi to grasp Ireland call when it comes as Swansea striker sits out March friendlies

Back in November 2018, then-Southampton striker Michael Obafemi won his first Republic of Ireland senior cap aged 18.

Fast forward to the present and no other caps have followed. However, given his recent form for Swansea where he has scored six goals in his last ten, the youngster seemed to be playing himself into contention for involvement in Ireland's upcoming friendlies against Belgium and Lithuania, especially in light of Adam Idah's season-ending injury and Aaron Connolly's eventual absence.

That was until last Friday's squad announcement when Stephen Kenny opened up about the player's stance and explained that Obafemi would not be linking up with the set-up for now due to concerns about the impact his current workload would have in regard to triggering hamstring injuries.

"He's never had what he's had before, a run of games, and he feels his load is so heavy, he's concerned about re-injuring himself coming into the international team and trying to train every day and play and play again," Kenny said, also reiterating the player's commitment to representing Ireland again in the future.

Obafemi will continue to work with Swansea's physios whilst the Irish squad builds towards the Nations League campaign with the two friendlies.

His decision to forgo a call-up on this occasion was a topic of discussion on this week's RTÉ Soccer Podcast with ex-Ireland and Tottenham defender Stephen Kelly offering his view.

Kelly feels the positive from the situation is that there is ongoing dialogue between manager and player which leaves the door open.

"I think the fact he's having a conversation with Stephen Kenny seems positive for him to be in the squad in the future," he said.

"It bodes well for us that he will be back involved at some