Martin O'Neill has indicated that it's unlikely, but not impossible, that Cork City striker Seán Maguire will be called up to his Ireland squad for their upcoming friendlies with Mexico and Uruguay.
Speaking at the launch of the 2017 FAI’s Sports Direct sponsored Summer Soccer Schools programme, the Ireland manager told the assembled media that his squad's dearth of strikers remains, but that friendlies designed in preparation for Ireland's June 11th qualifier with Austria would not be ideal to experiment with Maguire or others.
O'Neill said he'll continue to monitor the 23-year-old's progress at City, but that he hasn't seen as many League of Ireland games during the new season as he did towards the end of the last campaign.
It’s been a problem position for us and in the last 15 years there’s only really Robbie Keane who has come up and scored the requisite number of goals.
We had an opportunity to play some new players after the recent game against Wales but I’m not so sure in the lead up to these games that it’s the ideal time to try out some very young players who haven’t been involved before. It’s the lead up to a very important World Cup game. If there’s a player who is outstanding, though...
In terms of bringing somebody in, though; I wouldn’t be averse to that. I have plucked players from the League of Ireland before.
Maguire has scored nine league goals in eleven appearances for City this season, and has recently been linked with a move to Preston.
