Dan Crowley will not be part of the provisional Ireland squad for the upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against Denmark and Gibraltar when Mick McCarthy names it later today.
McCarthy was present at the Dutch Cup final on Sunday as Crowley came off the bench to play 30 minutes as his Willem II side lost 4-0 to Ajax but the English-born midfielder did not make an adequate impression on the Ireland manager.
The 21-year-old has played for both Ireland and England at underage level but has since committed his international future to the Republic.
He moved to the Eredivisie in the summer of 2017 and has made 37 appearances and scored six goals this season.
"It was unfortunate because Danny had played so many games in the Willem midfield all season and the world and his mother expected him to start the game," McCarthy told the FAI website.
If there was any doubt he wouldn’t start then I wouldn’t have travelled. That said, I did enjoy the Ajax performance, the atmosphere was electric and their second goal was something else.
Prior to Ireland goalkeeper Mark Travers making his Premier League debut for Bournemouth against Spurs on Saturday, McCarthy received a phone call from Sky Sports analyst Alan McInally. The Scot wanted some insight regarding the 19-year-old.
"I gave Mark a glowing reference," said McCarthy
"He was brilliant when he came into the squad for the games against Gibraltar and Georgia in March, on and off the pitch.
"Mark’s attitude around the camp impressed everyone and on the training ground he was different class with the way he trained and applied himself.
"I told Alan I think he’s top class so I wasn’t surprised Mark got the Man of the Match award against Spurs. Mark is only 19 but that’s not a problem for me - I gave Shay Given his debut at 19 and Robbie Keane was first capped at 18.
"Mark more than justified his inclusion in the squad back in March and he will be in Portugal for our training camp in a couple of weeks."
Ireland play Denmark in Copenhagen on June 7th and Gibraltar in Dublin on June 10th.
Picture credit: Sportsfile
