Richie Towell’s move to Brighton may not have had the desired effect on the midfielder’s career.
Towell was hoping that playing in the Championship would boost his chances of breaking into Martin O’Neill’s Republic of Ireland squad ahead of this summer’s Euro 2016 tournament.
As it turned out, Towell has actually struggled to break into the Brighton first team and hasn’t made one league appearance for the Seagulls, something that O’Neill warned the former Dundalk man about prior to the switch.
And in an interview appearing in the Irish Daily Star, the Ireland boss has claimed that it will be difficult for him to consider Towell if he is only playing a bit-part role for his club.
“It’s never too late,” O’Neill said. “Although I did say to young Towell a couple of months ago when he was making the move [from Dundalk], if he thinks that I’m going to travel on down to Brighton to watch him playing in the reserves he’s got another thing coming.
“Let him break into the team, let him get there and be part of it. It’s been tough so far but he can definitely push on.”
There are less than four months to go until Ireland’s Euro 2016 opener against Sweden and O’Neill did admit that players like Towell and Peterborough midfielder Chris Forrester are nearing the point where they can be called up to the Irish squad, but that they will be cutting it tight.
He said: “You mentioned young Forrester and you mention players like that. Is it too late? It’s getting close.”
