STOKE CITY’S Bosun Lawal has been added to the Ireland squad for Tuesday’s friendly in Luxembourg.
The 22-year-old is brought in to boost competition in defence and midfield as boss Heimir Hallgrímsson assesses his options ahead of the World Cup qualifiers in September.
Dubliner Lawal missed much of last season with a back problem following his move from Celtic to Stoke after an impressive loan spell at Fleetwood Town.
But he is highly-rated by Irish management having been called up from the Under-21s last summer for the meeting with Hungary by interim gaffer John O’Shea.
And O’Shea, now assistant coach, revealed last week that it was only his lack of games at Stoke City this season that meant he was not considered before now.
He said: “Bosun, (it’s) a frustrating one because of how he trained with us last year.
“You were really hopeful that he could obviously have that game time with Stoke and it was frustrating for him with the injury he picked up.
“But thankfully he was patient, because it was a tricky one because if you try and rush back from the injury that he’d had, he could suffer multiple injuries from it.
“So it took his time, frustrating not to get into the Stoke team in his ideal position either, but he played a few games towards the end of the season and was really impressive.
“I think it’s only a matter of time before he will kick on like we expect.”
