Talented Sheffield Wednesday pair get big accolade after promising seasons
Two Sheffield Wednesday youngsters could make international appearances next month after being called up by their countries.
Republic of Ireland’s under-21 side will head to Croatia for two friendlies as preparation for the start of their European Championship qualifying campaign in September. The young Boys in Green will take on the host nation as well as Qatar on June 6 and June 10 respectively.
Wednesday duo Gabriel Otegbayo and Killian Barrett have made the trip and could make their bows for manager Jim Crawford - a former Rotherham United man in his playing days. Otegbayo made huge strides in his rookie season in senior football this term, playing 15 times across all competitions from the centre of defence and earning big praise from Owls boss Danny Röhl along the way.
Barrett has featured on the bench for the Wednesday seniors this season but spent most of it out on loan gaining his own valuable experience on loan in the National League with Solihull Moors and more recently Rochdale. His performances helped Dale reach the play-offs before they were knocked out by Oldham Athletic.
Cork-born Otegbayo has been involved in previous squads but sat out three matches from the bench before making his debut in a 3-1 win over Hungary back in March. It is the first call-up for Barrett, born in Sligo, as he makes the squad alongside three other goalkeepers. Sheffield United defender Sam Curtis has also made the squad after a season on loan with Peterborough United and St Johnstone.
Republic of Ireland under-21 boss Crawford said: “These two games will be huge in terms of the preparation for the European Championships Qualifiers and we look forward to testing ourselves against quality opposition. Croatia have long had great pedigree in their youth teams and as for Qatar they are an emerging team in international football and will be a challenge.
“This is a young squad, we’ve nine players still in their teens but the majority of those nine are playing first-team football or around the first-team environment. It’s important we look at all options available to us, to put us in the best shape come September. We’ve had some solid performances already as a group and we saw that in particular in the last game against Hungary and we’ll be looking to build on that.”