Stephen Kenny's injury-ravaged squad for the World Cup double header this week has been hit with four more withdrawals as the Republic of Ireland manager confirmed that Leeds United forward Patrick Bamford. The Irish squad will train at their Manchester base today to prepare for Wednesday's World Cup tie away to Serbia but manager Kenny was forced to make some late changes. Kenny's predecessors have all spoken about a possible call-up for Bamford but Kenny says the door is closed as the 27-year-old is focused on winning an England cap. I never actually got to speak to him because he said that his ambition was to play for England," says Kenny. But the Ireland boss maintains that a four-point haul from the games against Serbia (Wednesday) and Luxembourg (Saturday) is within reach.

Source: Irish Independent March 22, 2021 02:37 UTC