Martin O'Neill: 'If there's a natural goalscorer in Hogan and Maguire that would be nice for the future'

Andrew Horgan reporting from Aviva HQ in Dublin

Aston Villa’s Scott Hogan and Millwall’s Aiden O’Brien have received their first call-ups to the provisional Republic of Ireland squad for the crucial World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Wales.

Manager Martin O’Neill announced his 32-man squad for next month’s matches at the Aviva’s Headquarters in Dublin on Monday afternoon.

Speaking to reporters shortly after the announcement, the Republic of Ireland boss admitted he was happy to hand the Championship players their first call ups.

“He [Hogan] got the paper work through and he’s available now to us and that’s good news,” declared O’Neill.

“Since I came into the job first of all I went to see Millwall at times and I think he [O’Brien] has improved since then.

“He has become a regular in the side as they stepped up and got promotion. He’s improved his game and is certainly worth consideration.

“I think that their young manager [Neil Harris] in charge is very keen on him which is good. I have spoken to him and hopefully, with a bit of luck, I will see him tonight when they play Reading.

“It gives me more knowledge about him and we’ll see how he will go it’s a boost for him to be in the squad and it gives him a chance.”

Ireland have been struggling for goals of late and have been dealt a huge blow as talisman Jonathan Walters has been ruled out for the upcoming games through injury.

And while Martin O’Neill insisted the Burnley forward will be a massive loss, he hinted it may give an opportunity to Hogan and Preston North End striker Sean Maguire.

“Jonathan Walters is not in the squad. He’s out and will be out for quite a number of weeks and it’s a real blow to us,” said O’Neill.

“It’s a difficult one to consider it would be nice if they [Hogan and Maguire] had a little bit more experience.

“These are tough games to go into but we are missing a couple of players. Jonathan Walters is a massive loss to us.

“It’s good to see Daryl Murphy staying fit for a while which is good news and [David] McGoldrick is coming back to a bit of form.

“But it would be nice to have these younger players coming in and trying to develop.

“If there’s a natural goalscorer in Hogan and Maguire that would be nice for the future of the Republic of Ireland.”

Meanwhile the former Celtic boss was also quick to confirm that he doesn’t believe his future in charge of the national side is dependent on the upcoming results.

Ireland need two wins to have any chance of qualifying for the World Cup in Russia next summer but O’Neill said he will only talk to chief executive John Delaney about his contract situation when the time is right.

“As I’ve done every single time there has been talk of contracts here, I will sit down with John (Delaney) when I get an opportunity to do so.

“We have a pretty open relationship and we’ll see how things develop.

“I think qualification for the Euros was excellent and we’re still in with a fighting chance here. And again, I’ll get back to saying, we’ll discuss it when the time is right and we’ll figure it out then.”

Republic of Ireland provisional squad to face Moldova and Wales:

Goalkeepers: Darren Randolph (Middlesbrough), Keiren Westwood (Sheffield Wednesday), Rob Elliot (Newcastle United), Colin Doyle (Bradford City)

Defenders: Cyrus Christie (Middlesbrough), Richard Keogh (Derby County), Shane Duffy (Brighton & Hove Albion), Ciaran Clark (Newcastle United), John O'Shea (Sunderland), Kevin Long, Stephen Ward (Burnley)

Midfielders: Aiden McGeady (Sunderland), James McClean (West Bromwich Albion), Glenn Whelan, Conor Hourihane (Aston Villa), Jeff Hendrick, Robbie Brady (Burnley), James McCarthy (Everton), David Meyler (Hull City), Harry Arter (Bournemouth), Eunan O'Kane (Leeds United), Wes Hoolahan (Norwich City), Jonathan Hayes (Celtic), Callum O'Dowda (Bristol City), Daryl Horgan (Preston North End)

Forwards: Shane Long (Southampton), Daryl Murphy (Nottingham Forest), David McGoldrick (Ipswich Town), Kevin Doyle (Colorado Rapids), Sean Maguire (Preston North End), Scott Hogan (Aston Villa), Aiden O'Brien (Millwall).