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King upbeat despite the quality and form of Turkey

Turkey v Rep of Ireland THE GROWING feel-good factor engulfing the Republic of Ireland Under-21 team will face its biggest test…

Tue Sept 06 2011 - 01:00

Turkey v Rep of IrelandTHE GROWING feel-good factor engulfing the Republic of Ireland Under-21 team will face its biggest test this evening when Noel King's side meet group early pacesetters Turkey in Manisa.

Ireland followed up their 2-1 win over Austria in last month’s friendly with a similar result against Hungary in last Thursday’s qualification opener against Hungary. Another win tonight would create a bit of history as the Irish have not begun a campaign with back-to-back wins since entering the championships 25 years ago.

For all the praise his side are receiving for their attacking style, spearheaded by Hull City’s on-loan winger from Manchester United Robbie Brady, King is cautious against the quality of opposition that awaits. A spying mission to Vaduz on Friday night, where the Turks defeated Liechtenstein 3-0 having opened with a 6-1 hammering of the minnows in the home fixture, illustrated to King the calibre of today’s opponents. Nevertheless, there’s a determination amongst his side starkly absent under Don Given.

King said last night: “Performances from our team in recent games have been very encouraging. There’s no reason why we can’t continue that form.”

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Central to that confidence is the options King has to pick from. Any manager that can leave a defender with Europa League experience such as Everton’s Shane Duffy on the bench, as has occurred in the last two matches, is spoilt for choice. Highly-rated Chelsea playmaker Conor Clifford was dropped for the first time at this level for two years on Thursday to accommodate James McCarthy. With the Wigan Athletic player restored to the senior squad for duty in Moscow today, Clifford should resume his midfield role.

The second enforced change from Thursday’s line-up is in the central striker’s position. Rhys Murphy, the scorer of the winner against Hungary, had to fly back to Arsenal yesterday after failing to recover from the hamstring strain.

REP OF IRELAND(probable): McLoughlin (MK Dons); Connolly (Bolton Wanderers), Canavan (Scunthorpe), Kiernan (Wigan Athletic), Gunning (Dundee United); Towell (Hibernian), Barton (Preston NE), Clifford (Chelsea); Brady (Manchester United), Murphy (Arsenal), White (Leeds United).