Kelly comes in

Goalkeeper Gavin Kelly is the only uncapped player in the Republic of Ireland under-17 squad announced yesterday for an invitational tournament in Israel over the new year.

The Tottenham-based Kelly is one of four players selected who did not feature in the squad that won the UEFA Under-16 Championship in Scotland in May.

However, the other three, Gary Dempsey of Everton, Paul Forsyth of Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland's Thomas Butler would all have been in serious contention for inclusion then but for injury.

Four players, Dave Madden, Ian Rossiter, Brian O'Callaghan and Ian Douglas, who were in Scotland, have been left out of this squad as manager Brian Kerr tries to broaden his player base. Kerr envisages release problems because of English youth cup games at that time for the prestigious Meridien Cup tournament in Cape Town, South Africa at the end of January.

Ireland will play five games in six days in Israel starting against Belgium on December 29th. They then meet Turkey and Israel on the following days before a break for New Year's Day.

Hungary are Ireland's next opponents on January 2nd and they play Yugoslavia the next day.

"The tournament should be beneficial to us on two counts," said Kerr. "It's ideal preparation for the more important tournament in South Africa and it will also present us with a chance to assess both Israel and Turkey whom we're due to play in Israel in the qualifiers for this season's UEFA Under-16 championship in February."

Republic Of Ireland Under-17 Squad: Gavin Kelly (Tottenham), Joseph Murphy (Tranmere), John Thompson (Nottingham Forest), Jim Goodwin (Celtic), John O'Shea (Manchester Utd), Keith Foy (Nottingham Forest), Desmond Byrne (Stockport County), Liam Miller (Celtic), Gary Dempsey (Everton), Shaun Byrne (West Ham), Kevin Grogan (Manchester Utd), Graham Barrett (Arsenal), Paul Forsyth (Blackburn Rovers), David McMahon (Newcastle Utd), Brendan McGill (Sunderland), Andrew Reid (Nottingham Forest), Dave Warren (Mayfield Utd), Thomas Butler (Sunderland).