Connor O’Riordan is happy to be back from international duty and relishing the trip to Crawley Town.

The big defender made his competitive debut for Republic of Ireland Under-21s in a European Championships qualifying win at Latvia last week.

Now he is back in the Alex fold and targeting three points in West Sussex.

O’Riordan said: “It’s good to be back. We are doing well at the moment and are on a decent run of form.

“We have to maintain that so we can push for promotion – that's what the club wants. We go into every game thinking we can win, so that is very positive.  

“Crawley is a tough game, they have good players and play good football in a possession-based style.

“It’s a game we have to prepare fully for because if we are not at our best we won’t get anything. We have to turn up and give all we can to get three points.”

O’Riordan, who previously played for Ireland U20s, was also called up for Scotland U21s as he qualifies for both nations.

But he chose to stick with Ireland and hopes for another call-up in November as they aim to qualify for the European U21 Championships for the first time ever.

He added: “We are top of our group with three wins from three, so we are going well.

“I’ve always had the ambition to play in international football and I’m delighted I’ve had the opportunity.

“Hopefully I’ve done enough to be called up again when we have massive games against Italy and Norway.”