REPUBLIC of Ireland assistant Roy Keane has praised Burnley defender Kevin Long after he was included in an international squad for the first time.

The 26-year-old rose from the fringes at Turf Moor to start the last three Premier League games of the season as regular central defenders Michael Keane and Ben Mee missed out through injury.

Long's elevation to Premier League football after seven years with the Clarets and six separate loan spells has seen the Cork man called up by Martin O'Neill for the Republic of Ireland's three games in June.

Ireland fly out to New Jersey on Monday, where they will face Mexico in a friendly on June 1, before another friendly against Uruguay in Dublin on June 4 and a World Cup qualifier against Austria, also in Dublin, on June 11.

Long is part of a smaller group taking part in a training camp at Fota Island before heading to the States, and Keane has been impressed with his rise in recent weeks and backed him to take his chance in the international arena if he wins a first cap.

"You have to be patient sometimes but he’s obviously had a good few months,” he said. “He’s been in the background at Burnley for quite a while.

"I know one or two of the staff members there and they speak highly of him; Burnley turned down plenty of offers for him to go out on loan in the Championship and he’s got his chance in the Premier League recently and done well.

"I’ve seen him a couple of times. He’s a good strong boy. Obviously, he’s not a kid and I’m sure if he gets a chance in Mexico he’ll take it. And that’s what happens in football sometimes. Sometimes fellas come into the squad at 18 or 19 years of age whether it’s a Robbie Keane or a (Robbie) Brady and then other lads come in a bit later in their career and that’s fine also.

"As I’ve said, we don’t have the biggest pool of players so if lads are playing, particularly at Premier league level, then obviously they are going to be considered."

Long is the only member of Burnley's four-strong Ireland contingent training at Fota Island, with Brady, Stephen Ward and Jeff Hendrick joining the squad next week.