O’Neill hopes for young talent to emerge

Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill has expressed the hope that a number of younger players will make their presence felt at senior level by the time the team is approaching the end of its European qualifying campaign but admits that the team he picks to play Georgia in early September will have a very familiar look about it.

Speaking yesterday in Mullingar, where he helped to make the third round draw of the Ford-sponsored FAI Cup, O'Neill said that Roy Keane will be well placed to monitor young Irish players in the course of his day job with Aston Villa and that he is hoping a few players will make significant progress.

“You’re hoping that over the course of the next 10 to 12 months maybe some of the young lads will come through,” he said, “maybe from League of Ireland, you never know, but also, I presume, in Britain, lads that can take their place and be worthy of playing and actually be comfortable playing.

“That’s in the not too distant future, I hope. But obviously with the games coming up I’ll probably be relying on a lot of the squad that I’ve had for the last number of weeks.”

He is continuing to pursue a number of players “who have declared more than an interest in joining us”. However, he says progress has been slow.

O’Neill’s more immediate problem is with players who have been forced to move clubs – and drop down a level in the process – over the close season. He insist, however, that this is simply part of the game and something he will have to deal with.

“I think a lot of the players that would come to mind had not been playing regularly in their club sides coming up to the end of the season. I don’t think that you’d have turned around at that stage and said that they’d get a club in a division higher than that. Of course, managers at other clubs would look at that and ask themselves why are they not playing regularly there and unless the manager knew the player pretty much intimately – like Mick (McCarthy), I think, has taken a chance with (Owen) Garvan, giving him a trial at Ipswich....but nothing has really surprised me.

FAI Cup Third Round Draw: Wexford Youths v Finn Harps; St Michael's v Avondale United, Ballynanty Rovers v Drogheda United, Cork City v Bohemians, Derry City v Malahide United, St Patrick's Athletic v Shelbourne, Dundalk v Galway, Shamrock Rovers v Longford Town. Ties to be played over the weekend of August 24th.