Martin O'Neill names 35-man squad for Dutch test

Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill has named a 35-man squad for their friendly international with the Netherlands on May 27^th.

Shay Given, Jeff Hendrick, Marc Wilson, Harry Arter, Jonathan Walters and David McGoldrick all return to the squad having missed the last internationals against Switzerland and Slovakia.

Oxford United forward Callum O’Dowda receives his first senior international call-up, days after he scored as his club side gained automatic promotion from League 2 with O’Dowda scoring in a 3-0 victory over Wycombe Wanderers.

O’Neill is expected to use the friendly with the Dutch to give his players game time together ahead of their opening European Championships matc on June, 13 against Sweden in Paris.

At the squad announcement at the Three Headquarters in Dublin, Martin O’Neill said:

“Everything now is about preparing for Euro 2016 and that is why we wanted to play a team of the calibre of the Netherlands as we aim to make the most of our time ahead of the departure for France.”

The Ireland squad will begin their preparations for Euro 2016 on Monday, May 23 at the FAI National Training Centre before facing Netherlands on Friday, May 27. O'Neill will announce his EURO 2016 panel the following day at a press conference.

Following the game with Danny Blind’s side, Ireland will head to Fota Ireland for a training camp before facing Belarus at Turner’s Cross on Tuesday May, 31.

“We will travel to Fota Island Resort for a training camp and a game against Belarus in the week afterwards, but this game at the Aviva Stadium is very important in terms of building our match sharpness and getting into tournament mode.”

The squad will depart for France on Wednesday, June 8^th.

Republic of Ireland Squad In Full:

Goalkeepers: Shay Given (Stoke City, 133 caps / 0 goals), Darren Randolph (West Ham United, 8/0), David Forde (Millwall, 23/0), Keiren Westwood (Sheffield Wednesday, 18/0)

Defenders: Seamus Coleman (Everton, 33/0), Cyrus Christie (Derby County, 4/1), Paul McShane (Reading, 33/0), Ciaran Clark (Aston Villa, 16/2), Richard Keogh (Derby County, 11/1), John O'Shea (Sunderland,110/3), Alex Pearce (Bristol City*, 7/2), Shane Duffy (Blackburn Rovers, 2/0), Marc Wilson (Stoke City, 24/1), Stephen Ward (Burnley, 32/2)

Midfielders: Aiden McGeady (Sheffield Wednesday*, 81/5), James McClean (West Bromwich Albion, 36/5), Glenn Whelan (Stoke City, 70/2), James McCarthy (Everton, 35/0), Jeff Hendrick (Derby County, 19/0), David Meyler (Hull City, 15/0), Stephen Quinn (Reading, 14/0), Darron Gibson (Everton, 25/1), Harry Arter (Bournemouth, 1/0), Wes Hoolahan (Norwich City, 28/2), Eunan O'Kane (Bournemouth, 2/0), Anthony Pilkington (Cardiff City, 9/1), Robbie Brady (Norwich City, 22/4), Jonathan Walters (Stoke City, 38/10), Jonathan Hayes (Aberdeen, 2/0), Callum O'Dowda (Oxford United, 0/0)

Forwards: Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy, 143/67), Shane Long (Southampton, 61/15), David McGoldrick (Ipswich Town, 2/0), Kevin Doyle (Colorado Rapids, 62/14), Daryl Murphy (Ipswich Town, 20/0)

*Indicates player is currently on loan