Blues midfielder Stephen Gleeson has been called up for Martin O’Neill’s Republic of Ireland squad for their World Cup Qualifiers against Georgia and Moldova in October. The 28 year-old Dubliner has been picked as one of Ireland’s sixteen midfielders.
Gleeson has recently returned from injury and was drafted back into the Blues squad for last weekend’s win over Sheffield Wednesday. He played 79 minutes of the 2-1 victory before being replaced by match winner Lukas Jutkiewicz.
Gleeson admitted in the Birmingham Mail that he was surprised to earn a recall into the team in place of the injured Robert Tesche. He said- “It was a bit of a surprise to be named on Friday, a nice surprise. I just had to come in and do a job for the team. It`s two games without being in the squad, I maybe thought that Davo (David Davis) would push in and Cotts would play. I was half hoping that I might be on the bench, but in football you need to stay prepared all the time and that`s what I have been doing in training.”
With Tesche still doubtful for today’s trip to QPR, Gleeson is likely to keep his place as Blues look to continue their four game unbeaten run.
Gleeson also commented on the improved quality of Gary Rowett’s squad. He told the Birmingham Mail- “Saturday showed that the squad we have is really strong and we got our reward for actually going for the game. It feels as though we can sustain it for longer, it definitely feels like we have a lot more, the six outfield players on the bench can all come on and change the game”.
With two Ireland caps already under his belt, Gleeson will be looking to add to his Ireland haul next month.
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