MICK McCarthy has suffered a setback in his bid to recruit English-born striker Patrick Bamford.

The highly regarded Leeds United forward has informed the new Irish manager that he will be concentrating on his club's promotion push until the end of the season. That means the 25-year-old will not be available to McCarthy until September at the earliest.

But McCarthy does not believe that the highly regarded Bamford is set to follow Declan Rice's lead and declare for England.

"I don't think so. He's had a lot of injuries and he wants to concentrate on club football. He wouldn't have been joining us until June anyway."

McCarthy's second coming as Irish manager begins with Euro 2020 qualifiers against Gibraltar and Georgia later this month.

He named a 23-man squad today that includes Luton's uncapped 20-goal striker James Collins as well as veteran Glenn Whelan. Among the big name absentees are Stephen Ward, Cyrus Christie and James McCarthy.

Online Editors