White chooses green in accepting King’s invitation

Soccer:Republic of Ireland under-21 team manager Noel King has named a squad for a friendly international against Austria at The Showgrounds, Sligo, next Tuesday (6.0pm) that includes Wolves goalkeeper Aaron McCarey and Derby County midfielder Jeff Hendrick, both of whom played for the national side that reached the semi-finals of the recent UEFA Under-19 Championships.

Leeds United defender Aidan White has been called into the U-21 squad for the first time, having previously played for England in an under-19 friendly. King explained: “Aidan is a player that we had watched several times by Mick Martin as part of the FAI scouting network in England and comes with an excellent reputation.

“He is a talented player who can also play on the left side of midfield. This is his first time to link up with the squad so we’ll be interested to see how he settles in.”

King has named 18 players with Robert Brady recalled to the squad. He continued: “A couple of issues needed to be resolved before Robert could come into the squad and I’m pleased there has been a resolution to the situation and am looking forward to having him with us/

“This game is an important preparation for us ahead of our opening qualifying game against Hungary in Sligo on September 1st. Every friendly match we play is about looking at players to see if they can help strengthen the team for the competitive matches. It would be fantastic if we could qualify for the finals in Israel in 2013 but there is a long journey with a tough group to tackle.”

Republic of Ireland U21 squad v Austria: Ian McLoughlin (MK Dons), Aaron McCarey (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Enda Stevens (Shamrock Rovers), Aidan White (Leeds United), Richie Towell (Celtic), Shane Duffy (Everton), Gavin Gunning (Blackburn Rovers), Rob Kiernan (Wigan Athletic), Niall Canavan (Scunthorpe United), Adam Barton (Preston North End), Jeff Hendrick (Derby County), Conor Clifford (Chelsea), Mark Connolly (Bolton Wanderers), Daniel Kearns (Dundalk), Aaron Doran (Inverness CT), Joe Mason (Cardiff City), Sean Scannell (Crystal Palace), Robert Brady (Manchester United, on loan to Hull City).