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Watch: Declan Rice's Encouraging Highlight Reel As A Midfielder Against Aston Villa

2 June 2018; Declan Rice of Republic of Ireland during the International Friendly match between Republic of Ireland and United States at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin. Photo by Eoin Noonan/Sportsfile
Gavin Cooney
By Gavin Cooney
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2018 has been a pretty barren year for the Irish team, what with missing the World Cup and left with the miserable consolation of a string of meaningless friendlies. There has, however, been one shining beacon of hope: the emergence of Declan Rice.

The West Ham youngster is fully committed to Ireland and, having made his debut at centre-back against Turkey, he excelled in midfield in the June friendly against the United States.

Given that Ireland have a decent selection of centre-backs, Rice would solve a number of problems if he can continue to excel in midfield. With all of this in mind, Irish fans can't but be encouraged by Rice's performance in (admittedly) a pre-season friendly win against Aston Villa.

Rice played as a defensive midfielder, and Twitter's West Ham Goals spliced together the highlights of his first-half performance. Throughout the game, Rice always found himself in the right position to break up attacks, all the while looking extremely comfortable on the ball.

Watch the highlights below.

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West Ham have yet to renew Rice's contract, something they should get around to sharpish in the opinion of a number of Hammers fans:

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If new manager Manuel Pelligrini continues to show faith in Rice as a midfielder for the season ahead, it is very good news for Ireland.

See Also: The Practical Reason Dundalk FC's Pitch Looks Terrible

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