PELLEGRINI TELLS RICE TO LISTEN TO HIS HEART

MANUEL PELLEGRINI believes Declan Rice must listen to his heart before making a final call on whether to declare for the Republic of Ireland or England. The West Ham manager acknowledged the 19-year-old has a huge call to make after he’d played his part in West Ham’s defeat of Wimbledon in the Caraboa Cup on Tuesday night. ‘He has a big problem but I think that his heart must decide if he feels more Irish or more English,’ said Pellegrini. ‘Maybe for him it can be more easy to play for Ireland but if you trust in yourself and you feel that you are an English player… it is a personal decision. ‘It is very difficult to give advice but I am always speaking with him because he is young.’ As Rice (right) keeps to himself for the moment, though, former England manager Sam Allardyce reckons it would be ‘a terrible mistake’ to switch allegiance. ‘Is it better playing for England and it ends up being less than 10 matches, or is it better playing for Ireland and playing 60 matches? ‘That’s the choice he has to make, which is a very difficult choice at 19, because he doesn’t realise how good he is going to be.’ Meanwhile, Neil Taylor has been left out of the Welsh squad for the UEFA Nations League double-header against Ireland in Cardiff next Thursday and Denmark in Aarhus three days later. Taylor inflicted the reckless challenge on Seamus Coleman when the teams met in Dublin in March 2017. For his first competitive game as manager Ryan Giggs has selected a 25-man panel, buttressed by Real Madrid ace Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen. Giggs has recalled Newcastle United defender Paul Dummett who stepped away from the international arena in 2015 and keeps faith in Ethan Ampadu (son of former Belvedere and Ireland Under-21 player Kwame) who could have declared for Ireland. On the flip side, Hal Robson-Kanu has announced his international retirement, at 29, for family reasons. ‘It is a new competition, it’s exciting,’ said Giggs. ‘If you look at all the groups, they are really competitive. ‘That is what UEFA wanted, more competitive games, and that is what they’re going to get. It is going to take a little bit of time for the fans to get their head around it. But once they do, it is an exciting tournament.’ Wales squad to play Ireland and Denmark: Hennessey, Ward, A Davies, Gunter, C Roberts, Chester, Williams, Mepham, Lockyer, B Davies, Dummett, Ampadu, Allen, Smith, Ramsey, King, Ledley, Wilson, Brooks, Lawrence, John, Woodburn, Bale, Vokes, T Roberts.