Shamrock Rovers pair Graham Burke and Aaron McEneff have been added to the Republic of Ireland squad for Wednesday's game versus Bulgaria, as Stephen Kenny deals with a lengthy list of injuries, suspensions, and Covid-19 cases.
The Rovers pair will join their club teammate Jack Byrne in the group, after he became the first League of Ireland player since 1985 to be capped in a competitive international when he featured in the 1-0 defeat to Wales yesterday.
Kenny has made four additions in total to the squad, with Troy Parrott and Jack Taylor stepping up from the under 21s to join Graham Burke and Aaron McEneff.
Both players started the Republic of Ireland u21s defeat to Iceland yesterday in Tallaght, as Jim Crawford's side saw their European Championship qualification hopes all but ended.
Squad Update | Four players called up
▪️ Aaron McEneff | @ShamrockRovers
▪️ Graham Burke | @ShamrockRovers
▪️ Jack Taylor | @theposhofficial
▪️ Troy Parrott | @MillwallFC
Hendrick & Molumby ruled out through suspension, Idah ruled out through injury #COYBIG | #IRLBUL pic.twitter.com/PoF0wZJM3W— FAIreland ⚽️🇮🇪 (@FAIreland) November 16, 2020
Kenny has been forced to bolster his squad, due to the positive Covid-19 cases of Matt Doherty and James McClean, while they also confirmed Adam Idah will return to Norwich, having picked up an injury.
The news of Doherty and McClean was confirmed by the FAI in a tweet from their official account on Monday afternoon, with the brief statement reading, "The Football Association of Ireland can confirm Matt Doherty and James McClean have tested positive for COVID-19.
"The rest of the staff & squad tested negative ahead of the flight back to Dublin this morning before the match against Bulgaria on Wednesday".
Both Doherty and McClean were in Stephen Kenny's starting lineup on Sunday evening for the 1-0 Nations League loss away to Wales. Each player played the full game.
Jeff Hendrick and Jayson Molumby have also been ruled out of the game versus Bulgaria due to suspension.
Kenny's squad is severely depleted for Wednesday's meeting with Bulgaria, with 12 of his initial 26-man squad unavailable due to injuries, suspensions and Covid positives.
Kenny is still looking for his first win with Ireland after seven games in charge, while they've also gone six games without scoring.
