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Football London
Football London
Sport
Daniel Hargraves

Crystal Palace defender receives first senior international call-up for Nations League fixtures

Crystal Palace U21 defender Kofi Balmer has earned his first call-up to the senior Northern Ireland squad ahead of their Nations League matches against Kosovo and Greece.

Ian Baraclough's side are in need of results going into their final two matches of the campaign, sitting third in League C Group 2 with two points, with their upcoming opponents occupying the top two positions with six and 12 points respectively.

The 21-year-old made the move to south London from Larne FC in August and has since featured in every match for Paddy McCarthy's young Eagles, having made more than 40 appearances for Larne last season as the Northern Irish outfit qualified for the Europa Conference League play-offs.

READ MORE: Crystal Palace youngster reflects on working with Mark Hughes and Bradford City loan

Palace's U21 side have enjoyed an excellent start to the 2022/23 campaign, winning five of their opening six games across all competitions, including a 2-0 away win at League Two side Swindon Town in the Papa John's Trophy, drawing once.

The young centre-back has got a combined 17 caps to his name for Northern Ireland's Under-19 and Under 21 sides ahead of his first senior call-up.

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