Elliott gets another senior call up

Striker Stephen Elliott has been rewarded for his performances with Sunderland by being called up for Ireland's senior squad again. The news comes shortly after Sean Thornton earned a call up for the RoI U21 squad to face Portugal on Tuesday 8th February.

Republic of Ireland team boss Brian Kerr has called on the services of both Elliott and Sunderland's skipper Gary Breen for the team to face Portugal in a friendly on Wednesday 9th February.

But Kerr hinted that Elliott may not get a starring role.

"The likes of Stephen Elliott and Aiden McGeady have made excellent progress with Sunderland and Celtic in the last few months. It is good to have players like them around to fit into the squad system if there are any injuries or suspensions."

The game will be played at Dublin's Lansdowne Road stadium with a 7.30pm kickoff, but only a limited number of tickets remain, available from either FAI headquarters (80 Merrion Square, Dublin 2) or on the FAI's ticket line 01-6627828, price range €36 - €48.

Elliott's first senior RoI call up was last November, when he played 84 minutes of Ireland's 1-0 friendly victory against Croatia.

The squad for the Portugal game is:

Given (Newcastle), Kenny (Sheffield United), Murphy (Walsall), Carr (Newcastle), Finnan (Liverpool), O'Brien (Newcastle), Breen (Sunderland), Doherty (Norwich), Cunningham (Birmingham), Dunne (Manchester City), O'Shea (Manchester United), Maybury (Leicester), Miller (Manchester United), Quinn (Sheffield United), Roy Keane (Manchester United), Kavanagh (Cardiff), Holland (Charlton), Kilbane (Everton), Reid (Nottingham Forest), Duff (Chelsea), Barrett (Coventry), Lee (Cardiff), Elliott (Sunderland), McGeady (Celtic), Robbie Keane (Tottenham), Macken (Manchester City), Morrison (Birmingham).