Out-of-contract West Brom star rewarded for fine form

Goalkeeper Max O’Leary has been rewarded for fine club form at Albion with an end-of-season international call.

O’Leary, 29, has played just once for Republic of Ireland, in a friendly against Luxembourg last June.

That came after helping former club Bristol City to the Championship play-offs and the shot-stopper has now been rewarded for a first call since having played a key part in helping Albion avoid relegation.

O’Leary has been included in Icelandic boss Heimir Hallgrímsson’s squad for a Spanish training camp and friendly against Grenada this month.

The goalkeeper is joined by Baggies team-mate Jayson Molumby in the 21-man squad. Molumby missed out in Albion’s final-day defeat at Sheffield Wednesday with a minor hamstring strain but has the chance to add to his 34 caps.

Ireland face Grenada in Murcia on May 16. Further friendlies come against Qatar on May 28 and Canada on June 6.

The nation are bidding to recover from the World Cup qualification heartache, where Molumby featured as Ireland were beaten on penalties by Czechia.

O’Leary, meanwhile, is out of contract at The Hawthorns at the end of the short-term deal he penned arriving at the club at the end of January.

The Bath-born former Robins stalwart proved a safe pair of hands between the sticks and made 17 appearances, 16 in the Championship.

He kept eight clean sheets in that time, many of which came in the run-in as James Morrison’s men powered to survival with a mean backline managing a remarkable run of six shutouts from seven games.

Albion are considering the next steps in the goalkeeping department with the futures of O’Leary and academy graduate Josh Griffiths, who started the season as No.1, up in the air.

Griffiths, 24, fell down the pecking order after losing his place to O’Leary. Third-choice keeper Joe Wildsmith is on loan at Middlesbrough and set to depart.