Garvan out to make impression with U-21's

Owen Garvan is hoping to propel himself back into the Republic of Ireland senior squad but he knows that his performances for the U-21 team will be vital for his international progression.

The 20-year-old Ipswich Town midfielder is in Bulgaria with the Republic of Ireland U-21's for Friday's UEFA U-21 European Championship qualifier.

Having been included in the senior squad for the recent friendly matches against Colombia and Serbia, Garvan is hoping to work his way back into Giovanni Trapattoni's squad.

The Dublin-born midfielder says that he enjoyed the experience of working with Trapattoni and was delighted to get the opportunity to be a part of the senior squad.

'To be a part of the squad meant that somebody was taking notice of me', he said. 'All I want to do now is play for the U-21's and hopefully if I do well the senior team will be watching.

'He's [Trapattoni] a lively person, he's very enthusiastic about football and that comes across. He is very eager to talk to the players and pass on what he knows about the game and that can only benefit Ireland.'

The Republic of Ireland face Bulgaria on Friday (kick-off 5pm Irish time) before travelling to Madeira to take on Portugal on Tuesday (kick-off 6pm Irish time) in their final UEFA U-21 European Championship qualifier.

While Ireland cannot qualify for the European Championships on this occasion, Garvan believes that the team did not get the results they deserved in the qualifying matches.

With manager Don Givens now having switched to the group of players eligible for the next qualifying campaign, Garvan believes they must learn from their mistakes of this campaign.

'The manager is keen to get the younger group of players through and I think that's good because it's looking to the next campaign,' he said. 'Some of the lads are new to U-21 level but there's a few of us who have been here before.

'We played quite well during the whole campaign but we've been punished for making small mistakes. We have played good teams like England and Portugal but in the next campaign we have to learn not to make those mistakes.'

The young Irish side take on Bulgaria on Friday with sixteen players available for selection. Michael Spillane (Norwich City) and James McCarthy (Hamilton Academical) will then join the squad in Madeira ahead of the match against Portugal.