Darren O’Dea has been called up into the Ireland squad to face South Africa at Limerick on Tuesday.
The defender joined Reading on loan last week after signing a new three year contract at Celtic and is desperate to get a chance at international level.
Richard Dunne and Kevin Kilbane are amongst five players that Giovanni Trapattoni has excused from the South African game giving O’Dea a chance to stake his claim for the international side.
Dunne and Preston’s Sean St-Ledger formed the central defensive partnership in the 2-1 win over Cyprus on Saturday.
As a former u-21 captain Dubliner O’Dea is hoping to make the step up into the full international squad with his loan deal to Reading viewed as the perfect platform to accelerate his ambitions for Celtic and Ireland.
After scoring for Celtic against Rangers in the final of the Co-Operative Cup in March O’Dea was called up for an international get together but left out of the final squad that travelled to face Italy in Bari.
Ireland host the Italians at Croke Park on October 10 with three teams still battling it out for the top two places with Italy facing Bulgaria on Wednesday in Turin.
The Ireland-Italy match is certain to be a massive occasion at Croke Park with Trapattoni confident of his adopted countries chances of making it to the World Cup Finals.
Refereeing decisions will be watched closely in the Italy-Bulgaria match with 12 Italians knowing that a booking in Wednesday’s match will mean missing out against Ireland due to suspension.
