Ireland men back in action against Scots

Kyle Marshall played for Ireland's Under-21 before attempting to play his way into the Great Britain squad

Ireland men's coach Mark Tumilty has included 14 uncapped players in his squad for a three-match series against Scotland at Jordanstown next week.

The games will be the Irish team's first matches since losing their controversial Olympic play-off defeat by Canada in October 2019.

Former Banbridge player Kyle Marshall is included after opting to switch back allegiance to Ireland.

Troy Chambers is among five Lisnagarvey men handed first call-ups.

Chambers' club-mates Mark McNellis, Ben Nelson, Jonny Lynch and Ollie Kidd are also in line for their first Ireland appearances as is goalkeeper James Milliken, who was part of the squad for the Olympic play-off in Vancouver but has yet to play for his country.

Marshall, who plays for English club Beeston, is joined in the squad by other fellow former Ireland Under-21 players Mark Samuel and Matthew Walker.

Eugene Magee and Chris Cargo are the only members of the squad that played in Canada 19 months ago to have retired from international duty.

However, several experienced members of Tumilty's squad are unavailable for next week's series with Covid-19 regulations in the Netherlands and Belgium ruling out a number of players including David Harte, Conor Harte and Jonny Bell.

But the squad still does include a number of regulars including Germany-based duo Neal Glassey and Jonny McKee.

Former Australian international Tim Cross, who recently signed for Annadale, is also again included after making his Ireland debut in 2019.

The games will take place on 10, 12 and 13 June and will be part of Ireland's preparations for the EuroHockey Championship Two which takes place in Poland in August, when the Irish will need to secure a top-two finish to progress to the World Cup qualifying tournament in November.

Ireland squad

Jamie Carr (KHC Leuven, 36 caps), James Milliken (Lisnagarvey, 0), Mark Ingram (Pembroke, 26); Kyle Marshall (Beeston, 0), Mark Samuel (UCD, 0), Matthew Walker (YMCA, 0), Peter McKibbin (Lisnagarvey, 1), Fergus Gibson (Loughborough Students, 0), Sam O'Connor (Glenanne, 14), Tim Cross (Annadale, 8), Lee Cole (Monkstown, 89), Mark McNellis (Lisnagarvey, 0); Sean Murray (KHC Leuven, 78), Jonny Lynch (Lisnagarvey, 0), Neal Glassey (Crefelder HTC, 61), Daragh Walsh (Three Rock Rovers, 51), Sam Hyland (YMCA, 0), Michael Robson (Annadale, 113); Troy Chambers (Lisnagarvey, 0), Simon Wolfe (Cork C of I, 0), Ollie Kidd (Lisnagarvey, 0), Ian Stewart (Corinthian, 0), Conor Empey (UCD, 0), Ben Nelson (Lisnagarvey, 0), Ben Walker (Three Rock Rovers, 35), Jonny McKee (Crefelder HTC, 43)