Starring on the European stage for his club in the League of Ireland was not enough to win Wes Hoolahan a call-up to the Ireland squad.

But the former Shelbourne man feels that current Dundalk stars Andy Boyle and Daryl Horgan deserve their place in the travelling party for tomorrow's World Cup tie in Vienna.

Hoolahan did get a call-up to the Ireland squad while at Shels, for a friendly in Greece in 2002 under caretaker boss Don Givens, but his next involvement was in 2008 so that Champions League run with the Reds in 2004 didn't help.

"It's good to see they are getting a chance that League of Ireland players maybe didn't get before," says Hoolahan.

"I've seen a bit of Dundalk in Europe on BT this season and the two lads impressed me, Daryl Horgan scored a great goal in Russia only last week. They are playing at a very high level in Europe and they've won the league three times in a row, which I know is a hard thing to do in the League of Ireland, or any league, so their confidence is sky high.

"People ask if I would have been ready to come in around the time I was doing well with Shels, the Deportivo game in the Champions League and that.

"It's hard to say if I would have been ready but I'd like to think so, taking on Deportivo was a pretty high standard and I wasn't a baby then, I was 24 at the time," added Hoolahan.

"The two Dundalk lads are around the same age, they look good at that European level and I am sure this will be no bother to them."