Brighton duo called up by the Republic of Ireland as Aaron Connolly is omitted
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Defender Shane Duffy and midfielder Jayson Molumby, who is on a season-long loan at Championship outfit West Bromwich Albion, have been named in the 25-man squad that will take on Belgium and Lithuania in a pair of international friendlies.
The Irish will welcome the world's number one team and the Lithuanians to the Aviva Stadium on March 26 and 29 respectively.
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Hide AdConnolly has struggled for goals since his loan move to Middlesbrough in January.
The 22-year-old has netted two goals in 13 appearances in all competitions for Boro. Connolly was on the scoresheet in Middlesbrough's 2-0 victory at Birmingham City during midweek.
A heel problem caused him to miss Ireland's FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Portugal and Luxembourg in November.
And Republic of Ireland manager Kenny revealed Connolly had been 'playing in a degree of pain' in recent weeks because of the injury.
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Hide AdSpeaking to extra.ie after the squad announcement, the 50-year-old said: "Aaron missed the Spurs [FA Cup] game with a heel injury and he’s not been training but playing with a degree of pain.
"They’re obviously trying to get into the Premier League and are in the play-off positions so he’s not been able to train but is getting through matches and scored the other night.
"We’re not in a positive to let him come in for a week and not train, and maybe play. He and the medical team at Middlesbrough think he needs to sort his heel out and get ready."
READ THIS: Brighton's Robert Sánchez named in Spain squad as Manchester United keeper David de Gea misses out.
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