Mick McCarthy has said Patrick Bamford wants to play for Ireland

"He said, 'yes.'"

Mick McCarthy has said that Patrick Bamford has agreed to play for the Republic of Ireland. The Republic of Ireland manager announced his provisional squad for Euro 2020 qualifiers against Gibraltar and Georgia on Thursday morning in Dublin. Bamford was not named in the squad, but it appears the Leeds United forward wants to come onboard for McCarthy's team. The English-born striker has been linked with a switch to Ireland for several years. He represented the country at Under-18 level back in 2010 and has also played for England at Under-18, Under-19 and Under-21 level. The 25-year-old has yet to meet with the Ireland manager, but McCarthy told reporters at the squad announcement that Bamford has told him he wants to play for the country and they are hoping to meet up soon. "My last contact with him was Saturday morning after he scored (for Leeds)," McCarthy said.

"I just congratulated him on his goals, that one-two at the edge of the box was a sublime finish. I just asked him if he still wanted to join us and he said, 'yes.' And I’m hoping to meet him. "If he does declare for us it has got to be June because he’s too late for March. I've made that clear to him. I want to meet him as soon as possible. "I asked him if he still wants to join and 'yes' was the answer. And so then it's just a matter of meeting up and having a chat with him. I stressed to him that if he wants to be involved in June we’ll have to get it done as quickly as possible." "I hope to go and see him before we got to Gibraltar but that’s not me setting a deadline. I'd be delighted if we meet up and he really wants to play. He’s a really talented player."

McCarthy named a 38-man squad, which will be cut down to 23-players on March 17. Here is the full provisional squad: Goalkeepers: Darren Randolph (Middlesbrough), Keiren Westwood (Sheffield Wednesday), Caoimhin Kelleher (Liverpool), Kieran O'Hara (Macclesfield Town*), Mark Travers (Bournemouth) Defenders: Seamus Coleman (Everton), Matt Doherty (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Cyrus Christie (Fulham), Richard Keogh (Derby County), John Egan (Sheffield United), Shane Duffy (Brighton & Hove Albion), Kevin Long (Burnley), Jimmy Dunne (Sunderland*), Enda Stevens (Sheffield United), Derrick Williams (Blackburn Rovers), Stephen Ward (Burnley) Midfielders: Aiden McGeady (Sunderland), Alan Judge (Ipswich Town), James McCarthy (Everton), Jeff Hendrick (Burnley), Conor Hourihane (Aston Villa), Alan Browne (Preston North End), Harry Arter (Cardiff City*), Glenn Whelan (Aston Villa), David Meyler (Coventry City*), Shaun Williams (Millwall), Robbie Brady (Burnley), Callum O'Dowda (Bristol City), James McClean (Stoke City), Daryl Horgan (Hibernian) Forwards: Shane Long (Southampton), Sean Maguire (Preston North End), Ronan Curtis (Portsmouth), Scott Hogan (Sheffield United*), Aiden O'Brien (Millwall), David McGoldrick (Sheffield United), James Collins (Luton Town), Padraig Amond (Newport County) *Indicates player is on loan