Ward joins Vokes in Euro finals along with a few ex-Clarets

Last updated : 18 November 2015 By Tony Scholes
Stephen Ward joins Sam Vokes at the Euros

Ward played in the first leg of their play-off semi-final against Bosnia & Herzegovina as they drew 1-1 in Zenica but had a watching brief in the second leg as the Irish went through 2-0 with two goals from Stoke's Jonathan Walters.

It will be a second finals tournament for him. He was in the Republic of Ireland squad in 2012 and played in all three of their games against Croatia, Spain and Italy.

With England having qualified, we are all hoping that Tom Heaton will make it and take the total to three but there is no doubt there are also going to be a few ex-Clarets involved in the tournament.

Leading the way is Gabor Kiraly. Now with 101 caps, he will be 40 by the time he arrives in France with Hungary for the finals. They too have gone a few years without qualifying for a tournament; not quite as long as Wales but it is 30 years since they went to the World Cup Finals in Mexico.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look as though either Jay Rodriguez or Danny Ings will be in the England squad but Gary Cahill will be whilst we can expect to see both Chris Baird and Kyle Lafferty in the Northern Ireland squad.

Former loan players John Guidetti and Alex Kačaniklić could also be in the Sweden squad. Guidetti should be, he's been involved in the play-offs as a substitute, coming on in the first leg against Denmark. Kačaniklić is less likely having not played for his country in a year.

Away from the Euros, Cahill played for England in the friendly against France last night whilst Diego Penny got another game for Peru, conceding three as they went down to Brazil in a World Cup qualifier. David Edgar also played in a World Cup game, coming on for Canada as a substitute in a 0-0 draw against El Salvador.

Former goalkeeper Alex Cisak, meanwhile, is, like Heaton, waiting for his first cap. Bournemouth's Adam Federici is number one choice in goal but Cisak has been on the bench for their last five internationals, all of them World Cup qualifiers. The latest two have been a 3-0 home win against Kyrgyzstan and a 4-0 victory in Bangladesh.

All the recent caps won have been added to the INTERNATIONALS feature which is within the Players drop down menu.

In terms of the Euros, England could face any of Wales, Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland but those three will all be kept apart having been placed in Pot 4.

The draw will see one team from each pot in every group and they've been grouped as follows.

Pot 1
Spain
Germany
England
Portugal
Belgium

(plus France who will automatically be the top seed in Group A)

Pot 2
Italy
Russia
Switzerland
Austria
Croatia
Ukraine

Pot 3
Czech Republic
Sweden
Poland
Romania
Slovakia
Hungary

Pot 4
Turkey
Republic of Ireland
Iceland
Wales
Albania
Northern Ireland

The draw will take place in Paris on 12th December at 5 p.m. UK time.