Darragh Lenihan has been named in the Republic of Ireland squad ahead of what is a busy schedule for Stephen Kenny’s side.

They have four matches next month, all within the space of 10 days, as they kick off their Nations League campaign.

For Lenihan it is a second call-up of 2022, though he will be hoping for more success this time around having been forced to pull out of the March fixtures because of injury.

That was a first call-up in 12 months for Lenihan who, despite his excellent form for Rovers, has only won two caps for his country. His debut came in June 2018, with his last outing coming in the November 2018 draw with Northern Ireland.

The 28-year-old is named in the squad for matches with Armenia (June 4), Ukraine (June 8), Scotland (June 11) and Ukraine (June 14), all in the Nations League.

Lenihan faces an uncertain future, his contract with Rovers expiring at the end of next month, though talks remain ongoing between the two parties.

The defender’s future is understood to hinge on Rovers’ managerial appointment, though interest is expected to be high in Lenihan, not least from Middlesbrough whose manager Chris Wilder is a long-time admirer.

Lenihan had hoped to have his future sorted before his international commitments, but that now appears unlikely.

 

 

Meanwhile, Ben Brereton has been named in the Chile squad for their upcoming fixtures with the Rovers striker aiming to build on his goal-laden season.

Brereton hit 22 goals for Rovers, as well as four times in 13 caps for Chile, in what has been a transformative year for the attacker.

There is one final chapter of the 2021/22 season to go for Brereton after being named in Chile’s 24-man squad for next month’s matches in Asia.

La Roja, who missed out on qualification for this winter’s World Cup, will have three matches in the space of eight days next month.

The first is a friendly with South Korea in Seoul on Monday, June 6 before they enter the Kirin Cup.

Chile will play Tunisia in Japan on Friday, June 10 and will then a final, or third-place play-off, against either Japan or Ghana on Saturday, June 14.

Brereton has played 13 times for Chile since making his debut against Argentina almost 12 months ago and become a firm fixture in Martin Lasarte’s squad.

So much so, Chile pushed for Brereton to be involved in their crucial March qualifiers despite his ongoing injury recovery, starting the 2-0 defeat to Uruguay that ended any hopes of them reaching the play-offs for a spot in Qatar 2022.

Those hopes aren’t over, with Chile having launched a legal challenge with FIFA over Ecuador’s use of a possible illegible player which could yet hand them a place in the World Cup should their complaint be upheld.

Brereton has had the 12-month extension in his contract, taking him through to 2023, but that will only ramp up the speculation over his future though as yet, Rovers haven’t received any concrete bids for the 23-year-old.

 

Elsewhere in the squad, Thomas Kaminski missed out on selection for the Belgium squad.

Namibia have an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier with Burundi on June 4, and while they are yet to name their squad, Ryan Nyambe is set to be involved.

Jack Vale is likely to be in the Wales Under-21s squad who host their counterparts from the Netherlands and Gibraltar next month.

Academy prospects Dominik Bienik and George Chmiel have been named in the Poland Under-18s squad for a friendly tournament in Slovakia which runs from June 1 to June 7.

Teenager Jay Haddow is included in the Japan Under-19s squad for the upcoming Maurice Revello Tournament which starts on May 31.