League of Ireland clubs have been told they ‘can’t have it both ways’ over the Toulon Tournament conundrum.
The inclusion of seven home-based players for the prestigious tournament in France - which starts on Saturday - has seen widespread Premier Division postponements.
Waterford and UCD will play just one league game between now and the end of June while Cork City and Derry City won’t have a home game for six weeks.
It has riled many managers and Shamrock Rovers boss Stephen Bradley - whose game away to Waterford is off this Friday - branded the chain of events ‘a joke’.
But Keith Andrews - one of Ireland U21 boss Stephen Kenny’s two assistants - claims it is a positive headache for clubs.
“You can’t have it both ways,” he said yesterday. “We’ve cast the net far and wide and people are in it on merit.
“You can’t have it both ways - you can’t have players playing Under-21 football when they want.
“It’s a privilege for the players to play. It shows the good work that’s going on at League of Ireland, because it certainly wasn’t happening in the past.”
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