Josh Cullen may have been called up to the Republic of Ireland first team squad, but his wait for a debut continues.
The 23-year-old was on the bench for both of Ireland’s Euro 2020 qualifiers, as they drew 1-1 with Denmark and beat Gibraltar 2-0, though he didn’t manage to get onto the pitch.
Cullen impressed manager Mick McCarthy and captain Seamus Coleman during training, as was reported by West Ham, which is an encouraging sign for him going forward- even if it wasn’t enough for him to get any game time for now.
If he is to make his first-team debut, he will need to get in ahead of fellow midfielders Jeff Hendrick, Conor Hourihane and Glenn Whelan who started the two matches in question between them.
Cullen has pedigree for the Irish at youth level, as he has represented the Under 21s 15 times, captained them and won the FAI Under 21 Player of the Year award in 2017.
The midfielder has also impressed during loan spells away from the Hammers with Bradford City, Bolton Wanderers and most recently Charlton Athletic- where he notably put in the cross which Patrick Bauer eventually scored from to win the League One Play-Off final.
He will now be hoping to break into the West Ham first team squad, which would also help him achieve that coveted Republic of Ireland debut.
His next opportunities to potentially pull on the green jersey will come in September when Ireland face Switzerland in another qualifier, before playing a friendly against Bulgaria.
