Arsenal loaneee Mark McGuinness returned to the Ipswich Town squad this week, as well as receiving a Republic of Ireland u21 call-up.

On Saturday, 20th March, Mark McGuinness made his first appearance in an Ipswich Town matchday squad for over a month. The centre-back made the bench against Portsmouth in their 2-1 defeat, though he didn’t make it onto the pitch.

We recently covered the fact that the Arsenal loanee hasn’t been involved at all for Ipswich Town despite appearing to be fit. He travelled to some of the games as the extra man, he played for the u21s, but he couldn’t get a first-team squad call-up.

It was a rather surprising situation, after the 20-year-old’s 18 appearances in the first half of the campaign. But there was a suggestion from those who watch the club regularly that McGuinness still appeared a little too raw.

Perhaps this week provides some hope for the remainder of McGuinness’ loan spell, though. Ipswich conceded two goals for the second game in a row without him, and he got a call-up to the Republic of Ireland u21s on Thursday.

If he can make good use of the international break to impress and build up his match sharpness, perhaps Ipswich boss Paul Cook will consider him for minutes on his return.

The Republic of Ireland u21s face Wales on Friday, March 26th, with kick-off at 1pm. Ireland write on their official website that you can watch the game via Wales’ social media channels.