Republic of Ireland Under-21 manager Don Givens has included the much talked about Willo Flood in his 20-man squad to compete in the upcoming Madeira International Tournament.
The tournament, which takes place from February 24th-27th, will be an opportunity for Givens to assess who is likely to make the team for the European Under-21 qualifiers which begin in September.
"It's a good tournament for us. We don't know what type of sides Portugal and Italy will bring with them because we've been forced to leave out some of our more experienced players, though it means that I've been able to call in some players who could go on to earn regular places in the squad,"
said Givens.
"I couldn't select players who are playing first team football, people like Sean Thornton, David Bell, Jonathan Walters, Graham Ward, Kevin Foley and Eamon Zayed."
Manchester City's Flood and Tottenham's Mark Yeates are two squad members who are both still eligible for the Under-19s. "They have both played in the first team and are excellent prospects. We've always worked on the basis that if you're good enough, you're old enough - I capped John O'Shea when he was Under-18 - and I think that these games will help their development," said Givens.
The eircom League is represented by Cork City pair Liam Kearney and Kevin Doyle along with Stephen Paisley of Longford Town.
Ireland's opening match will be against Portugal on Tuesday February 24th before taking on Italy the following day. Given's men will then finish the tournament with a game against hosts Madeira on Friday February 27th.
Squad: Murphy (Swansea City), Henderson (Aston Villa), Capper (Scarborough), McCarthy (Manchester City), Fitzgerald (Blackburn Rovers), Kelly (Tottenham Hotspur), Paisley (Longford Town), Kohlmann (Borussia Dortmund), Flood (Manchester City), Keegan (Leeds United), Potter (Liverpool), Foley (Liverpool), Whelan (Manchester City), Bradley (Arsenal), Kearney (Cork City), Doyle (Cork City), Deane (Charlton Athletic), Elliott (Manchester City), Mehmet (Dunfermline Athletic), Yeates (Tottenham Hotspur).