Lowry hoping to get a rub of the green

When Steve Staunton announced at the press conference, when he was unveiled as the new manager of the Republic of Ireland, that a key part of his strategy for the job involved the unearthing of a new generation of foreign-born players willing and able to declare for Ireland, there was some scepticism regarding the continuing existence of such an untapped reservoir of talent.

It didn't get much better for the Louthman when the initial search threw up just one name, Shane Lowry, a young defender, born in Australia of Irish parents, who had yet to emerge from Aston Villa's academy.

The youngster had shown character to get even that far, leaving home at 16 in order to move to Birmingham.

He has made solid progress since, even if, 18 months on, his ambitions of playing senior international football for the country his parents left 25 years ago remain somewhat distant.

Still, Lowry has won admirers at underage level and could prove a key figure for the under-19 manager Sean McCaffrey as his side try to qualify for this summer's European Youth Championship finals in Austria.

"I've always wanted to play for Ireland," said the teenager from Perth at the Irish team's base near Dublin airport yesterday, "and there wasn't a moment's hesitation when Sean asked me to come in for the first time; it was a real honour."

Since then the 17-year-old has won a handful of caps and left quite an impression on those who have seen him. He describes himself as "an old-fashioned central defender. I like tackling, I like heading and basically I don't like the other team to score really", but plays down comparisons with Irish stars of the past.

Members of the Irish backroom staff insist Lowry possesses just the sort of qualities that brought Mick McCarthy and Kevin Moran to prominence, citing his outstanding performance against Portugal in the recent Oporto tournament, where he quietly but firmly played the host nation's latest rising starlet out of the game.

Barring mishaps he is likely to feature prominently in next week's games - against Bulgaria at United Park on Monday, Germany at Dalymount Park on Wednesday and Hungary back in United Park next Saturday - and it is the last game that might just hold out the greatest attraction for him.

"Yeah, one of the two guys I'm in digs with at Villa, Zoltan Stieber, plays for them," he laughs, "so that'll be interesting."

With Staunton set to watch the first two games and under-21 manager Don Givens also home to help out with Ireland's campaign, the entire week could be an important one in Lowry's long-term campaign to fulfil the Ireland manager's short-term promise.