Does this make it even less likely that we will see Jack Byrne getting a place in the senior squad in France?
The Manchester City midfielder, on loan at Eredivisie side Cambuur, is the stand-out inclusion in Noel King’s U21 squad for the upcoming UEFA U21 Championship Qualifying Round Group 2 ties against Italy and Slovenia.
King’s side take on Italy on March 24 in Waterford before travelling to Koper to face Slovenia on March 28.
Byrne had been steadily making a case for a call-up from Martin O’Neill after a series of impressive performances for Cambuur, the most recent of which saw him named in the Eredivisie team of the week this week.
O’Neill has described the senior side’s upcoming friendlies against Switzerland and Slovakia as “an experimental time” which led eager Irish fans to believe that the likes of Byrne would be given a shot.
But his place in the U21 squad would lead you to believe that his chances of appearing in the pre-Euro 2016 friendlies, and thus the group stages, are growing increasingly slim.
It should be pointed out that King is expected to narrow this 24-man squad down to 18 closer to the fixtures but time is definitely running out for O’Neill to select him.
Ireland U21 provisional squad: Ian Lawlor, Danny Rogers, Brian Lenihan, Tommie Hoban, Glen Rea, Jack Connors, Niall Keown, Sean Hoare, Kevin O’Connor, Darragh Lenihan, Alan Browne, Harry Charsley, Josh Cullen, Jack Byrne, Callum O’Dowda, Brandon Miele, Conor Wilkinson, Shamir Wilkinson, Josh Barrett, Shane Griffin, Sean Maguire, Sean Long, Dylan Connolly, Kenny McEvoy
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