Two Ireland-eligible youngsters have been included in Lee Carsley's England U21 squad for the upcoming international window.
Carsley has named an extremely strong squad for England's upcoming double-header against France and Portugal, with the squad including multiple players previously capped at senior level.
Among the squad are the likes of Jarrad Branthwaite, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Rico Lewis, Adam Wharton, Liam Delap, and Harvey Elliott.
However, the names of Burnley's CJ Egan-Riley and Sunderland's Dennis Cirkin are the ones that have jumped out to Ireland fans.
READ HERE: Bruno Fernandes Hits Back At Roy Keane Criticism After Hat-Trick Heroics
READ HERE: Crawford Calms Nerves Over Ireland Prospect's Rumoured Albania Switch
Ireland-eligible youngsters named in England U21 squad
Both Cirkin and Egan-Riley are eligible to play for both Ireland and England.
Cirkin was born in Dublin to Latvian parents, meaning he is also eligible to play for Latvia, and moved to London at the age of three. He has been capped for England through the underage ranks.
Egan-Riley, meanwhile, was born in Manchester but is eligible for the Boys in Green through familial links. The Manchester City academy product has previously played for Ireland at underage level, appearing for the U16s back in 2018.
However, like Cirkin, he has more consistently lined out for England at underage level, and this would appear to be confirmation that the pair are unlikely to make the switch to Ireland.
Jude Bellingham's younger brother Jobe is another player in the England squad who holds dual eligibility with Ireland, though it was generally seen as more of an outside chance that he would decide to jump ship.
One more Irish-eligible player included in the England U21s squad is Ipswich Town star Liam Delap. The son of Ireland international Rory, Delap is yet to be capped by England at senior level.
The appearance of Heimir Hallgrímsson and John O'Shea at the recent clash of Sunderland and Burnley in the Championship had sparked hope that Cirkin and Egan-Riley could be on the verge of making an Ireland squad. However, their future appears to be in the England setup.
Hallgrímsson named his Ireland senior squad on Thursday for the Nations League playoffs against Bulgaria. Rocco Vata and James Abankwah both earned their first call-ups, while Jimmy Dunne could earn his first cap having previously operated on the fringes of the squad.
SEE ALSO: High Praise From Hallgrímsson As "Game-Changer" Rocco Vata Earns Senior Call-Up
