Jack Byrne may have a rival for attention in the Ireland U21 squad.
The young Manchester City midfielder may be the hot young thing in Irish football circles at the moment, but he may soon have to make room in the headlines for an exciting defender who made his Irish debut last night.
Noel King's side saw their slim hopes of reaching the U21 European Championships next year suffer a fatal blow with a 4-1 loss to Italy last night in the RSC.
The group two leaders proved much too strong for the Boys in Green, but one player caught the eye, in the shape of Niall Keown.
Keown is of course a good strong Irish name, but what makes the Reading defender a little bit special, is the fact that his father Martin won 43 caps for England, and is considered an Arsenal legend.
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Martin Keown's son only declared for Ireland this time last year, and his father was in the stands last night in Waterford to see his son make his full Irish debut.
Keown acquitted himself well enough considering Ireland were missing so many of their more established U21 players and we hope to see him given a few more chances by Noel King as the Irish campaign draws to a close.
