Rooney bids for 20th Irish goal

The game, at Turner’s Cross in Cork, is a qualifier for the European U21 Championship and the 19 year old, on loan from Stoke City, will be hoping to get his 20th goal for his country at various age group levels.

Rooney, four goals in his last three appearances, has hit a rich vein of scoring form for Spireites.

And he joined up with his international colleagues, including Blades man Stephen Quinn, after scoring in the 3-2 weekend win at Shrewsbury Town, for a game that could see him facing a number of Premiership stars such as Theo Walcott (Arsenal), James Milner (Newcastle United), Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa) and Matt Derbyshire (Blackburn Rovers).

Ireland’s only fixture to date in the qualifiers for the 2009 tournament, with the finals due to be played in Sweden, was a 2-0 home loss to Portugal last month, a game Rooney played in, whilst Stuart Pearce’s England have won three from three including a 1-0 win over Montenegro at Leicester last Friday.

Jamie Ward has been withdrawn from tomorrow’s Northern Ireland U21 squad for their home game against Israel.

It has been decided that the striker, who came on in the latter stages of the game at Shrewsbury Town after two months out with a hamstring problem, will be better served by staying at home to improve his fitness.