Alan Cawley has said the "time is now" for Daryl Horgan to be included in the Republic of Ireland squad.

Speaking in the RTÉ studio after Horgan's man of the match performance in Dundalk's 3-1 win over Derry City, Cawley said Horgan is "dead right to be disappointed" not to be in Martin O'Neill's squad.

O'Neill named his provisional 33-man panel for Ireland's World cup qualifiers against Georgia and Moldova on Friday morning, but the winger was not included due to his side's fixture congestion.

Cawley said that regardless, Horgan is "putting in performances at a European level that are good enough to get into the squad.

"Squads are supposed to be picked on current form and there are players in that squad who are nowhere near the level he is playing at the moment.

"I'm delighted he put in the performance he put in tonight because that just backs up everything he has been doing all season and what everybody has been saying about him."

Fellow RTÉ panelist Jonny McDonnell added that Horgan needs to "keep doing what he's doing" and O'Neill will pick him.