Town chief challenges Keeley to take his game to the 'next level'

Luton boss Jack Wilshere has challenged goalkeeper Josh Keeley to take his game to the ‘next level’ after earning a call-up to the Republic of Ireland squad for their World Cup play-off semi-final clash against the Czech Republic this evening.

The 22-year-old moved to Kenilworth Road from Premier League outfit Tottenham Hotspur in the summer, after an impressive season-long loan stint with fellow League One side Leyton Orient, quickly establishing himself as number one at Kenilworth Road, missing just one third tier fixture so far this term, that the 1-0 loss at Exeter City on New Year’s Day. Having represented his country at U17s, U19s and U21s level, Keeley was also named in the senior squad for Ireland’s friendlies against Senegal and Luxembourg last year, on the bench for both matches that finished all square.

However, Keeley has now earned selection for a competitive fixture for the first time, as along with Brentford’s former Liverpool stopper Caoimhín Kelleher and Everton’s Mark Travers, will be at the Fortuna Arena, home of domestic champions Slavia Prague, tonight, with the winner going through to face either Denmark or North Macedonia on home soil next week for a place in the tournament in USA, Mexico and Canada later this year.

Having kept 11 clean sheets this term, and six in 27 outings under Wilshere, denied his first since January when beaten by Oliver Norwood’s free kick during a 1-1 draw with Stockport County at the weekend, asked about the former St Patrick’s Athletic youngster getting the nod from head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson for such an important fixture, the Hatters manager said: “He deserves it, he’s had a good season. He can now use this as an opportunity to go to the next level.

"It should give him a lot of confidence, give him a lot of belief in himself and know that people are looking at him, his country is looking at him and they want him to be part of the squad which is a huge honour for any player. It can take him to the next level, so congratulations to him because he’s been really good and he deserves it. He works hard every day and he can use it now to push on even more.”

Being called up by his country was something that happened to Wilshere plenty of times in his career, as he won 34 caps for England between 2010-16, scoring twice and also playing at two major tournaments, the 2014 World Cup and 2016 European Championships. Discussing just what it was like to do so, he added: “It’s the best feeling because everyone dreams of that as a kid. When I think about playing football from a young age, I used to pretend to be David Beckham in an England shirt and I’m sure Josh would have pretended to be Shay Given growing up. So it’s the biggest honour in my opinion and he should be really proud of that.”

Meanwhile, Ireland assistant manager John O’Shea is hopeful that Keeley will be part of an Irish squad who get to their first World Cup since the 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan, adding: “The boys are in a good place. Training was almost reminding me of that cup final scenario. Everyone's wanting to get into the team, the intensity, the noise and the atmosphere around the boys is brilliant. There's a quiet confidence in the group growing together, it's great to see but we know there's a lot of hard work to come."