Shamrock Rovers boss Stephen Bradley wouldn't be the type of manager to tell his Republic of Ireland counterpart what to do but he does believe that Jack Byrne is showing the kind of form that could cut the mustard in the heat of international battle.
The Hoops midfield maestro dazzled for his club again last Monday night in the 5-1 league win at Waterford, scoring a pair of brilliant goals before hitting a superb assist for Aaron Greene to complete a brace of his own.
Irish boss Mick McCarthy has named Byrne in an extended 40-man squad for the upcoming Euro 2020 qualifying match against Switzerland and friendly with Bulgaria.
"It's not for me to say whether he should be in the squad or not," Bradley told Off The Ball on Thursday. "But if you're asking me can Jack play at international level, a hundred per cent.
"He's got the ability to play at the highest level possible and international level is obvioudly a really, really high level so can Jack play there? Of course he can."
Bradley will be without Neil Farrugia (hamstring) and Joey O'Brien (ankle) for tomorrow night's FAI Cup second round clash with Drogheda United although O'Brien is back training and will be fit to face Waterford in the league next week.
"We felt Neil would have been back a couple of weeks back," said Bradley of the recent signing from UCD. "We got him re-scanned and it just wasn't as far down the line as we thought so we pulled him back a bit."
The good news for the Hoops is that Graham Cummins will be fit to face Drogheda in the cup.
The striker came off with an injured shoulder against Waterford last Monday but is fit to play.
Shamrock Rovers boss Stephen Bradley speaking to Off The Ball's Stephen DoyleDrogheda shocked the Hoops by knocking them out of the cup last season with a 1-0 first round win and they come into the second round match at Tallaght Stadium this Friday with huge momentum.
Tim Clancy's team have won 11 of their last 14 matches, losing just twice in that run, and are up to second place in the First Division.
"We don't worry about any team, we genuinely don't," replied Bradley when he's asked to consider the form of the opposition.
"Whether it's a team in our division or not, or Europe, we don't. We respect them, we look at their strengths but we fully focus on how we can hurt them and how we can impose our game on them.
"That'll be the case tomorrow night. We know they're a good side but if we hit our levels, we're a very good side and hopefully we can show that tomorrow night."
You can watch the full Off The Ball video interview with Stephen Bradley here.
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