Match Preview: Republic of Ireland u21 -v- Luxembourg u21

The Ireland under-21 team are back in Tallaght Stadium on Friday

The Ireland under-21 team are back in Tallaght Stadium on Friday Credit: Michael P Ryan (ETPhotos)

International football returns to Tallaght Stadium on Friday evening when the Irish U-21 side take on Luxembourg in a UEFA U-21 Championship qualifier (5.15pm kick off).

This is one of 16 qualification games taking place across Europe on Friday Oct 8th, with neighbours Northern Ireland also in action, away to Russia at 5 pm.

The Republic of Ireland team is in Group F, one of nine groups comprising 53 teams in total, and the Boys in Green are set to play Sweden, Italy, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Friday’s opponent’s Luxembourg.

Jim Crawford’s side currently sit in third place in the group, on four points having won one and drawn one so far.

Ireland had an excellent 2-0 win away to Bosnia and Herzegovina back on Sept 3rd when goals by Tyreik Wilson in the 52nd minute and a Conor Coventry goal in the 73rd minute gave Crawford’s side a well-deserved victory.

Wright is a native of Ovens in Cork and played with local club Lakewood before signing for Aston Villa in 2018. He joined Walsall in January 2021 and went out on loan to Salford City in August 2021.

Coventry is one of the English born players who qualifies to play for the Republic of Ireland through his Irish born mother. He is currently playing with Championship side Peterborough on loan from West Ham United with whom he is contracted until 2023.

In their other group match away to Luxembourg, Crawford made four changes to the team with starts given to Lee O’Connor, Colm Whelan, Evan Ferguson and Joel Bagan.

Ireland took the lead on the 70th minute through a goal by UCD’s Colm Whelan and an assist by Bohemians’ Dawson Devoy. They were pegged back shortly after however when Dylan Kunte scored for the home team to leave it 1-1 at the end of the game.

Kilkenny born Whelan is currently the top scorer in the SSE Airtricity League First Division with 17 goals to his credit so far.



Asbourne County Meath born Devoy has been one of the leading lights in central midfield for Bohemians this season and is also gradually becoming a mainstay in Crawford’s U-21 squad.

The side are looking forward to playing in front of a crowd in Tallaght once again and Crawford expects the home support to be excited by what they see.

During a media interview this week Crawford said “we’ve got to be patient as players too. It’s important that we don’t start rushing teams and forcing things.

"Luxembourg will come, they will be organised. It’ll be a different pitch to what we played on over in Luxembourg because Tallaght’s surface is fantastic pitch as we all know. It's big so it's up to us to utilise it and to exploit the spaces.

"We’ve got a game-plan and the players are disciplined, they're clever enough, they’re talented enough to stick to that.

"It's just great to be able to play in front of fans in Tallaght Stadium. The players are really looking forward to it. The buzz last year in the campaign playing in Tallaght was great.



"I was speaking to a couple of players during the week and they loved the whole atmosphere that Tallaght brought to the campaign last year. They’re looking for more of that.

"One thing I can say, the fans will be impressed with the group we have here because we are a very good bunch."

The full Irish squad for the game on Friday night is:

Goalkeepers: Sam Blair (Bury Town, on loan from Norwich City), Brian Maher (Bray Wanderers), David Odumosu (Drogheda United)

Defenders: Joel Bagan (Cardiff City), Andy Lyons (Bohemians), Oisin McEntee (Greenock Morton, on loan from Newcastle United), Mark McGuinness (Cardiff City), Jake O’Brien (Crystal Palace), Lee O’Connor (Tranmere Rovers, on loan from Celtic)
 
Midfielders: Conor Coventry (Peterborough United, on loan from West Ham United), Dawson Devoy (Bohemians), Alex Gilbert (Swindon Town, on loan from Brentford), Gavin Kilkenny (Bournemouth), Conor Noss (Borussia Möchengladbach), Ross Tierney (Bohemians), Louie Watson (Derby County)
 
Forwards: Evan Ferguson (Brighton and Hove Albion), Will Ferry (Crawley Town, on loan from Southampton), Joshua ‘JJ’ Kayode (Rotherham United), Liam Kerrigan (UCD), Andrew Moran (Brighton and Hove Albion), Ollie O’Neill (Fulham), Tyreik Wright (Salford City, on loan from Aston Villa), Colm Whelan (UCD)

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