Alex Pearce was an unused substitute for the Republic of Ireland on Friday night as they lost 1-0 to Turkey in Antalya.
Mehmet Topal volleyed in the winner on 52 minutes as Turkey won the friendly.
Martin O’Neill’s side managed the entire game without having a shot on target.
There was no place in the squad for fellow Ram Richard Keogh.
Selfish I know, but it has to be a good thing for Derby County that neither player featured in the game doesn’t it?
The Championship is a tough league and it is a long hard season for players. We really are at the business end now and the rest for both will hopefully help the team in the run-in.
Now the international break is over, the finale to the season is well and truly on. So hopefully the rest will have help massively and we’ll see the team hit the ground running for the final fixtures.
