SHOCK IRELAND CALL-UP FOR HOOPS STAR JACK BYRNE

THREE years after being called up by Martin O’Neill to train with the Irish squad as a callow teenager, Jack Byrne is back. And this time, it really matters. Unlike March 2016, which smacked of a cosmetic exercise as Byrne (right) was among a cast of thousands for a couple of friendlies, the Shamrock Rovers midfielder has been drafted in to a smaller group of 23 for two competitive games. Opportunity knocked following a visit by Mick McCarthy and his coaching staff to Tallaght last Friday where Byrne scored a screamer in a 3-0 win for the Hoops against Sligo Rovers. With Callum O’Dowda (knee) ruled out of the qualifiers against Gibraltar and Georgia, McCarthy has turned to the player who’d left the biggest recent imprint. ‘Jack was the star of the show in Tallaght,’ said McCarthy. ‘He was the best player by a distance in a good team performance by Rovers and his goal was the icing on the cake. ‘I was impressed with his vision, his range of passing and his passion. Robbie (Keane) has trained with Jack with the senior team before and speaks highly of him so I wasn’t surprised by his contribution.’ Byrne, 22, has emerged from left-field as he didn’t figure in the initial 38-man squad earlier this month. His call is a positive reflection of the Airtricity League and of Rovers’ fine start to the season and of his own attitude too after his profile dipped on leaving Manchester City in the summer of 2016. Meanwhile, McCarthy is itching to get back on the training ground in Abbotstown today for the first time since his return as Irish manager. As a gesture of a new approach under McCarthy, the session will be open to the media. ‘I am looking forward to getting back on to the training ground,’ said McCarthy. ‘It’s almost a year since I left Ipswich and I have missed it. ‘The honeymoon has been great since I got the Ireland job again and I have enjoyed the positivity and the support of the Irish fans everywhere I’ve gone. ‘But we’re here to win matches and get Ireland to the Euro 2020 finals. That work starts on the training ground on Monday. I can’t wait.’ McCarthy lost Alan Browne and Ronan Curtis from his revised squad, which led to call-ups for Kevin Long and Josh Cullen, who is loan to Charlton from West Ham. ‘Josh is a busy midfield player. He gets around the field, he can pass the ball and likes to have a shot. He could have scored against Burton (last Tuesday) but his own player blocked it,’ said McCarthy. New father Conor Hourihane, Richard Keogh and Kieren Westwood will hook up with the squad tomorrow.