Patrick Bamford again left out of England squad
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Patrick Bamford again left out of England squad

PATRICK BAMFORD, at 27 years of age, must be thinking about his international options.

Numerous Irish managers have approached the striker to play for the boys in Green, as his mother is Irish, and he would be eligible to do so.

But he is clearly holding out hope to get an English call up, that is getting less and less likely with every passing minute.

He is having the best season of his life with Leeds, and still can't get near the England squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifying matches.

This is an England side that is also missing two excellent attacking midfielders in Jack Grealish and James Maddison through injury, who are likely to also be above Bamford in the pecking order.

So could it be time for him to finally declare for Ireland and actually have a crack at international football?

Speaking a couple of years ago, Bamford said that the decision not to declare for Ireland then was a tough one, but who knows if things have changed since then?

He said: "My mum's side is Irish and my dad's side is English so it was a tough decision for me. Being English, it was always my dream to play for England, but I'm not going to rule out either option."

More recently, he said that he hopes that by the end of the season he can still get a call up to play for his country, saying: "I think by the end of the season if I’m still doing it and I’m up there in the top scorers charts then we can talk about whether or not I deserve a place in the England squad."

However, with the talent that he has to compete with, this seems increasingly unlikely, and it may be time for Stephen Kenny to get on the phone to the hard-working forward.

It wouldn't be the first time pulling on the green jersey either, as he represented Ireland at Under 18 level.