New boy ready to grab chance
TWENTY years ago it was a Dubliner by the name of Robbie Keane who made his Republic of Ireland debut in a March friendly. Two decades on and it is Sean Maguire’s turn to try and lay claim to leading the line for years to come. The Preston North End striker was given his international bow against Moldova last year but is now at the forefront of a new era under Martin O’Neill ahead of a training camp and friendly away to Turkey at the end of this month. One of his rivals in attack, 31-year-old Shane Long, is the oldest outfield player in the 30-man provisional squad, while Aston Villa’s Scott Hogan is also a contender. ‘That position is up for grabs I suppose, but whenever I do get the chance to put the Irish jersey back on, I’ll give it my all. I just have to keep doing what I am doing at club level and once I get that chance I’ll be really excited for it,’ Maguire told Offtheball.com ‘2017 was a great year and I’ve said it now, 2018 is going to be a bigger year. I feel now I need to go from strength to strength. I feel there is a big couple of months coming up.’ O’Neill included several uncapped players in the squad — Kieran O’Hara, Matt Doherty, Declan Rice, Darragh Lenihan, Derrick Williams, Enda Stevens, Liam Kelly and Hogan — and while Maguire is only back in action following four months out injured, he revealed how he was never far from O’Neill’s thoughts. ‘The gaffer rang me when I was injured. He was just devastated for me. Halfway through he was asking how I was getting on, so it was nice to get that bit of feedback from him. They were brilliant while I was out injured, giving me a couple of phone calls. ‘The injury wasn’t great timing,’ he added. ‘We were flying in the league and obviously the World Cup play-offs were coming up. I suppose any timing isn’t great for an injury like that. The tendon came off the muscle, the hamstring, and I had to get it reattached. Things were going well at the time and I wanted to get back stronger, sharper and fitter than before. I feel stronger than before. ‘I’m still lacking that bit of sharpness but coming on in the last couple of games has done me good.’