JIM CRAWFORD shrugged off Nathan Fraser’s absence as he gave first call-ups to Conan Noonan and Connor O’Brien.
As SunSport revealed on Friday, the Wolves striker has opted to stay at his club to prepare for next season rather than link up with the Ireland Under-21s for friendlies against England and Croatia.
Crawford said: “Late last week, he made a decision he wants to stay at Wolves for now. I accept that.
“If someone was 98 per cent committed I still wouldn’t have them.
“You’ve got to be 100 per cent committed because we’re coming up to a part of the campaign where we’ve got extremely important games.
“If somebody was a little bit fluffy I’d rather they stayed at home and just concentrate at their club for now.
“Look, the door is always open to change their mind but at this point in time we need people that are ready to come in.
“With Nathan, he said he’d come in in June but obviously things have shifted in his own mind that he just wants to get himself right over at Wolves for pre-season.
“Good luck to him. He’s played for Ireland before.
“I had a few conversations with him and it was late last week he made a decision.
“We’ve a lot of talented forwards — Mark O’Mahony, Johnny Kenny, Aidomo Emakhu, Sinclair Armstrong.”
Kenny’s recall comes after good form for Shamrock Rovers with team-mate Noonan, 21, joining him — and the boss said: “Conan has been on the radar a long time.
“He’s had an unfortunate time with long Covid which held him back.
“He’s two-footed and always stood out because of how comfortable he is on the ball.”
Accrington Stanley’s O’Brien, 19, qualifies through his Drogheda dad.
Crawford said: “He’s aggressive, his one v one defending is very good and he’s decent on the ball.
“League Two is very physical and for him to play in those games and stand out is something.”
Ireland’s 21s play Croatia on Friday and England’s Under-20s four days later, with both games in Zagreb.
IRELAND UNDER-21 SQUAD: Brooks (Notts County), Cahill (Brighton), Keeley (Spurs); Abankwah (Udinese), Curtis (Sheffield Utd), Garcia MacNulty (PEC Zwolle), Lawal (Celtic), Murphy (Newcastle), O’Brien (Accrington Stanley), O’Riordan (Blackburn), Roughan (Lincoln); Adeeko (Wigan), Healy (Royal Francs Borains), Hodge (Wolves), Moran (Brighton), Noonan (Shamrock Rovers), Vata (Celtic); Armstrong (QPR), Emakhu (Millwall), Kavanagh (Bradford), Kenny (Shamrock Rovers, on loan from Celtic), O’Mahony (Brighton), O’Neill (Leyton Orient), Oko-Flex (FC Zurich), Springett (Norwich).