Defensive Options

Following Brian Lenihan's call up to the senior international side, and the rumoured call up of Derby County's Cyrus Christie, online fans have been wondering what other players deserved a call up. With this in mind, we examined the playing records of defenders playing in England and Scotland in the 2014/15 season to date to see who has made the most appearances, and thus, who could have been added to Martin O'Neill's squad. The criteria we applied were as follows:

• Not in the current senior international side
• Playing for, or loaned to, a club in the English Premier League, Championship or Scottish Premier League - this means that Blackburn Rovers' defender Anthony O'Connor who has appeared 12 times on loan at Plymouth Argle has been ommitted
• Younger than injured Seamus Coleman, 25 years of age(i.e. the player is a future prospect) - meaning the omission of 28 year old Paul McShane, among others
• Has made at least one appearance for their club this season - Aidan White, Enda Stevens, Daniel Devine, Charles Dunne, Pierce Sweeney, Bradley Garmston and Shane Griffin are all yet to make an appearance this season

With eleven appearances apiece so far this season, Mark Connolly and Matt Doherty can both lay claim to a place in the manager's side. Connolly is also the only defender on the list to have scored this season, finding the back of the net. against St Mirren and Dundee United

Player	Club	HA	AA	TA	S
Mark Connolly(22)	Kilmarnock	7	4	11	2
Matt Doherty(22)	Wolverhampton Wanderers	6	5	11	0
Tommy Hoban(20)	Watford	5	3	8	0
Joe Shaughnessy(22)	Aberdeen	4	3	7	0
Jake Carroll(23)	Huddersfield(Partick Thistle)	4	2	6	0
Mark O'Brien(21)	Derby County(Motherwell)	1	4	5	0
Shane Duffy(22)	Blackburn	3	2	5	0
Eoghan O'Connell(19)	Celtic	1	3	4	0
Sean Kavanagh(20)	Fulham	1	2	3	0
Gavin Gunning(23)	Birmingham City	1	0	1	0
Kevin Long(24)	Burnley	1	0	1	0
Sean Long(19)	Reading	0	1	1	0
Kyle Callan-McFadden(19)	Norwich	1	0	1	0

• HA - Home Appearances
• AA - Away Appearances
• TA - Total Appearances
• S - Scored

What player would you have liked to see replacing Coleman in the squad? Which of these do you think will earn caps for the senior side in future?