Givens adds a little know how

Don Givens has drafted Sheffield United's Stephen Quinn and Celtic's Darren O'Dea into his Republic of Ireland under-21 squad to face Holland in Venlo on March 27th.

Quinn and another inclusion Darron Gibson of Royal Antwerp have both featured in the senior Irish squad and along with O'Dea will undoubtedly strengthen the side and add experience.

O'Dea's inclusion rules out a call-up tomorrow to the senior squad the upcoming Euro 2008 qualifiers against Wales and Slovakia in Croke Park.

The central defender, who helped Celtic keep Milan at bay for 180 minutes in the Champions League,  has just extended his contract with the Glasgow club and was widely touted as a possible inclusion by senior boss Steve Staunton.

Charlton's Darren Randolph drops back into Givens' squad following his selection as third-choice goalkeeper in Staunton's squad for the win over San Marino.

There are four national league players involved, in the shape of UCD goalkeeper Darren Quigley, Paul Keegan of Drogheda United and the Bohemians duo John-Paul Kelly and Conor Powell.

"We know we have a tough campaign ahead of us in the qualifiers, so the game against the Netherlands will serve as a good build-up towards the competitive fixtures later in the year," said Givens, who will lead his into the 2009 Uefa Championship qualifying series in September.

"The Dutch are hosting the under-21 European Championship Finals in the summer and are certain to provide us with a good test.

"I was pleased with the level of performance from the team during our three games at the Madeira tournament last month," added Givens. "I'm hopeful  that the addition of players like Stephen Quinn, Darren O'Dea and Darron Gibson for this match can give us further quality in key areas of the pitch."

Ireland's group opponents in the qualifying campaign will be Portugal, England, Bulgaria and Montenegro.

SQUAD

Darren Quigley (UCD)

Darren Randolph (Charlton Athletic)

Tony Kane (Cercle Brugge KSV)

Joseph O'Cearuill (Arsenal)

Richard Keogh (Bristol City)

Darren O'Dea (Glasgow Celtic)

Stephen O'Halloran (Aston Villa)

Conor Powel (Bohemians)

John-Paul Kelly (Bohemians)

Darron Gibson (Royal Antwerp)

Paul Keegan  (Drogheda United)

Stephen Quinn (Sheffield United)

Michael Collins (Huddersfield Town)

Ian Morris (Scunthorpe United)

Adam Rooney (Stoke City)

Billy Clarke (Ipswich Town)

James O'Brien (Dunfermline Athletic)