Republic of Ireland U19 manager Tom Mohan has questioned the scheduling of the European Championships at that age group, with his side set to be without a number of key players for the tournament.
Ireland will play in the finals in Armenia, opening their campaign against Norway on July 15th. Czech Republic and France have also been drawn in Group B.
However, Mohan will not be picking from a full pool of players. As the tournaments does not take place during a FIFA designated international window, clubs are under no obligation to release their players.
The like of Michael Obafemi, Adam Idah and Aaron Connolly will be unavailable, while that list could well be added to in the coming weeks.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Mohan said it would make things a lot easier for the nations involved if the tournament was held during international windows in the future.
You’re frustrated because you want everyone available to you.
A few other countries may be in the same boat, although they may not be as affected as us. Other countries might not be affected at all. We’re not giving up hope either.
We were missing five of the lads at the elite phase and the boys came in and did very, very well.
You’re going to the finals and it’s another step-up and it’s the real elite now, the last eight.
Mohan has called up 34 players to train ahead of the tournament, which will be eventually whittled down to 20.
One player who has not been present is Spurs forward Troy Parrott. Parrott suffered an injury towards the end of last season, and is still in recovery.
Mohan was unsure if he will be ready for the tournament, or if he will even be made available by his club.
Troy is still coming back from his injury. We have to see how that unfolds first of all and then whether he’s going to be with Spurs’ first team.
The most important thing with any player, especially coming back from an injury, is his well-being.
