MAHER-VELLOUS
Brian hails senior duo
IRELAND Under-21 goalkeeper Brian Maher says he is not scared by the competition for the number one jersey at senior international level.
The 20-year-old has taken over from Gavin Bazunu and Caoimhin Kelleher at underage level following their promotions to Stephen Kenny’s set-up.
While they are both set to be long-term rivals for the goalkeeping sp ot, a long with Bournemouth’s Mark Travers, Maher is excited by their elevation to the senior team.
And having trained with the pair in the Under-21 side, he knows the level he needs to reach to follow them to the very top.
Maher, on-loan at Bray Wanderers from St Patrick’s Athletic, said: “It’s not daunting, no. It’s encouraging, nearly.
“You see the young lads coming in and doing really well and I’m obviously delighted for them, because I’d have trained and I’d know some of them.
Exciting
“I wouldn’t say daunting, I’d say it’s exciting. I think a lot of the fans are really excited about them as well, and Mark (Travers) is included in that too.
“We were only talking to Gavin (Kilkenny) who is in this squad and he knows Mark really well. He’s saying he’s flying this season as well with Bournemouth Bournemouth. “That’s three really good goalkeepers. It’s tough competition to be fair. But I’m really happy for them.”
As for his time on the training pitch with Bazunu ( inset) and Kelleher, he said: “It’s really good, it shows you the level you can aspire to get to when you are training with those lads. “Obviously they would have been full-time at Liverpool and City at the time when I was training with them. You can see the level they are at and the way they conduct themselves. It’s really impressive.” Maher has registered some notable achievements of his own so far in his international career. He starred in Tom Mohan’s Under-19 side when they reached the semi-finals of the 2019 European Championships.
And he can put himself in the spotlight once again over the next five days by keeping clean sheets against Luxembourg in Tallaght Stadium and away to Montenegro. He recorded a blank away to Bosnia in the campaign opener last month, as Ireland won 2-0, before they drew against tomorrow’s opponents Luxembourg in Dudelange.
“It (a clean sheet) is obv i - ously the aim,” aim” he said. said
“As a goalkeeper that’s what we pride ourselves on.
“If we win 3-2 I’ll still be happy. We are looking forward to trying to get that win on Friday in front of the home fans. If it comes with a clean sheet, I’ll be even happier.
“That will be the goal and we will talk through ways of trying to keep that clean sheet. But we are focused on performance and hopefully a win.” Preparing for tomorrow’s clash with Luxembourg is the easy part — but after that things get complicated.
Players
Under-21 boss Jim Crawford may have to travel to Montenegro without several of his players, as the Balkan country is still red-listed by the UK and Germany.
He has drafted in 13 additional home-based players in the event that those at clubs in England, Scotland and the Bundesliga are not allowed to travel.
Maher will be on the flight regardless, but he acknowledged that it “wouldn’t be ideal” if wholesale changes had to be made.
“It’s still up in the air and we don’t know,” he said. “But there will still be good players coming in, good hungry players who will want to show that they can be here and play at this level.
“I know that whichever squad it is, they’ll be given everything they can to get a win in Montenegro. It will just be all about trying to win against Montenegro.”