Kelly goes cool on an Ireland call
LIAM KELLY was once likened to Andres Iniesta but his brief flirtation with the Republic of Ireland appears to be over.
Manager Martin O’neill revealed in Turkey yesterday the little Reading midfielder no longer wants to be considered for selection.
Uncapped Kelly, 22, is English-born and had been named in the provisional 30-man squad for Friday’s friendly in Antalya.
It was his third time being named in a senior Irish squad but O’neill claims Kelly has not returned phone calls.
O’neill said: “You might want to ask about Liam Kelly who I think wants to keep his options open at this minute.
“Obviously, he’s born in England and wants to keep those options open and that’s fine. I did actually leave a message or two and he got back to me by text.
“I’ve always said it’s the player’s choice and if he wants to think that England might come in, that’s entirely his decision.”
And speaking after training in Belek, O’neill added: “When we named the squad he had not returned a lot of calls coming through at the time.
“I spoke to his agent some quite considerable time ago and I think that was always going to be OK, I felt.”
Kelly was called into the provisional squad for the World Cup qualifier at home to Wales last March but pulled out with a hamstring injury.
He was also picked for the summer trip to America to play Mexico but withdrew when Reading reached the playoffs finals.