Moran named in Crawford’s Under 21 squad for Euro qualifiers

MANAGER Jim Crawford has handed former Knocklyon United player Andrew Moran a first call-up to the Republic of Ireland Under 21 squad ahead of the upcoming UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifiers against Bosnia & Herzegovina and Luxembourg early next month.

The highly-rated midfielder, along with compatriot Evan Ferguson, made his first-team debut for Premier League outfit Brighton and Hove Albion during their 2-0 victory over Cardiff City in the Carabao Cup earlier this week.

And in what has already been a memorable period for Moran, the 17-year-old has now been named as part of Crawford’s 24-man panel for the start of this latest European quest, with six of those players named in the squad for the first time.

Indeed, along with Moran and Ferguson, Cardiff City’s Joel Bagan and Crystal Palace’s Jake O’Brien have been drafted in for the first time along with Fulham’s Ollie O’Neill and Wolfsburg’s Anselmo Garcia MacNulty who had trained with Crawford’s squad during their Spain camp in July.

Tallaght man Crawford will see his Ireland Under 21s will take on Bosnia & Herzegovina in Zenica on Friday, September 3 at 3.30pm (Irish time) before travelling to Stade Jos Nosbaum, Dudelange to face Luxembourg the following Tuesday at 3pm.