Rolye scouts young talent in the Republic of Ireland

Ipswich now have a strong Irish contingent, with Shane Supple, Alan Lee and Owen Garvan all hailing from the Republic but it was Sweden's U21 side that Royle had gone to Drogheda United's ground to check out.

Speaking to the EADT, Royle said: “It was a good opportunity to watch a number of players. We have received reports about some of the Swedish lads and I went to have a look at them mainly. We know quite a lot about the Irish lads already with our scouting network and it was a good game to take in.”

The media at the match were strongly linking Royle with Boheminan's 20 year old striker Stephen Ward, who had an excellent match but Royle refused to comment on the player.