£2m Portsmouth man handed international reprieve after controversy as attacker earns maiden call-up

Rocco Shein has been handed an instant recall to the Estonia squad for the upcoming international break.

And there’s also a maiden senior Northern Ireland call-up for youngster Eoin Kenny after his recent Fratton Park emergence.

Shein, of course, controversially made himself unavailable for selection in the previous international window in September.

The Pompey midfielder, who has been capped 25 times for his country, felt his body needed a rest after a hectic workload and decided not to join up with the camp.

In a statement, the 23-year-old said prioritising his health at this important stage of his career would help him establish himself at Fratton Park and therefore strengthen his position in John Mousinho’s ranks.

This prompted criticism from head coach Jurgen Henn, who said talks will take place in the future over Shein’s commitment to the national team.

Pompey man handed international reprieve after recent controversy

But just a month later, the former FK Fredrikstad man is back in the international fold, having been included in Estonia’s 25-man squad for the upcoming window.

The £2.1m man has been given an instant recall to the side, who face Luxemburg (November 13) and Bulgaria (November 16) in their two Nations League contests.

Shein’s intriguing selection will no doubt offer him the chance of much needed game time, having fallen down Mousinho’s pecking order in the engine room.

A 45-minute appearance against Wolves represents the midfielder’s sole outing in the previous six and currently finds himself behind Marlon Pack, Ebou Adams and Iyad Mohamed in the head coach’s ranks.

Since his multi-million pound signing from FK Fredrikstad in July, the Estonia international has featured nine times for Pompey in all competitions - of which eight have come from the start.

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Pompey duo selected for Northern Ireland camp

Meanwhile, Kenny’s recent Fratton Park emergence has been rewarded with a maiden call-up to Northern Ireland’s senior squad.

The young attacker, who joined from Dundalk in June, has been a regular fixture on Mousinho’s bench in recent weeks and was handed his Championship introduction against Wolves last month.

His breakthrough came after a brilliant camp with the Green and White Army’s U21s in the September international break.

Kenny started all three U21 Euro 2027 qualifiers for Northern Ireland and grabbed two assists, while also captaining the side in the win over Greece.

The versatile forward has since been included in Michael O’Neill’s 25-man squad for their upcoming Nations League games against Ukraine (November 14) and Hungary (November 17).

There’ll also be a familiar face in the senior camp for Kenny, who will be joined by Fratton Park team-mate Terry Devlin.

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