Sheffield United players earn international call up after lengthy gap since last cap
Two Sheffield United players have received international call-ups for the Republic of Ireland
The domestic season may have finished at the weekend but a couple of Sheffield United players could be back in action soon for their country.
Blades pair Mark McGuinness and Tom Cannon have been called into the Republic of Ireland squad for a friendly against Grenada later this month.
The match will take place at Estadio Nueva Condomina in Murcia, Spain on May 16 and coach Heimir Hallgrímsson has picked a squad of largely fringe players, almost all of them from the EFL. Players at top flight clubs in England or Scotland and those featuring in the Play-Offs have been left out and will come back into contention for two further friendlies at the end of the month against Qatar and Canada.
Chiedozie Ogbene, who is on loan at United from Ipswich but will return to his parent club, has also been included in the squad which is being seen as a glorified training camp and an opportunity for Hallgrímsson to look at his options with the Republic of Ireland struggling for depth in their squad.
Slough-born McGuinness was heavily capped at under 19 and under 21 level but has just one senior cap to his name, that coming against England in a Nations League fixture in November 2024.
Cannon has two international caps, with both of his also coming in 2024. He made his first appearance for the Republic in May that year against Portugal and his last run out for the Liverpool-born striker came against Finland.
The Boys in Green have been struggling for a goalscorer of late, so much so that there were rumours that David McGoldrick was in line for a return to the squad for their World Cup play-off matches in March.
Cannon finished the season with a goal for the Blades against Derby County at the weekend but he has scored just six times this campaign as he found it difficult to nail down a place in the United side.
McGuinness, who arrived from Luton in the summer, had also been in and out of the team but did manage to get a run of games together towards the back end of the season.