Mick McCarthy has hinted he’ll recall Ciaran Clark to his Republic of Ireland side following his impressive form for Newcastle United.
Surprisingly, the centre-back hasn’t played for his country since October 2018, but he’s now being tipped to return to the fold after McCarthy praised his performance in Saturday’s 3-2 win at West Ham.
Speaking to ROI’s official website, here’s what he’s had to say about Clark ahead of the upcoming international break:
“Ciaran Clark did his chances no harm as well on Saturday,”
“His goal was one of the highlights for Newcastle but he played well throughout the game and looked settled in their defence.”
Richard Keogh and Shane Duffy started in the ROI’s last game, but with the former sacked by Derby and the latter losing his place in Brighton’s defence, it looks like Clark will be recalled ahead of their friendly against New Zealand and crucial Euro 2020 qualifier against Denmark later this month.
The 30-year-old defender was actually born in Harrow and captained England’s U-20’s at one stage, but made the decision to represent the Republic of Ireland when approached back in 2010.
His career at Newcastle United threatened to fizzle out just a few months ago, with Lascelles, Schar, Lejeune, Fernandez and Dummett all appearing to be ahead of him in the pecking order, however he’s taken his chance brilliantly over the past few weeks, scoring on Saturday and being one of our standout defenders over the past month.
