Preston's Sean Maguire earns Ireland call before vital World Cup qualifiers

Preston striker Sean Maguire is one of the fresh faces in Martin O'Neill's Republic of Ireland squad for two key World Cup qualifying matches.

Maguire joined Preston's Irish contingent last month after a prolific run of goalscoring in the League of Ireland, where he hit scored 20 times for Cork City before heading to the Sky Bet Championship.

The 23-year-old, who has been capped at U19 and U21 levels, joins fellow uncapped players Matt Doherty and Liam Kelly in O'Neill's provisional squad, which will be cut down after a training camp later this month.

Wolves defender Doherty and Reading midfielder Kelly have been in squads before but are still waiting for their senior international debuts.

Maguire's Preston team-mate Greg Cunningham returns to the squad and could secure his first cap since 2013, when he made the last of his four appearances.

Rob Elliot, Paul McShane, Ciaran Clark, James McCarthy, Stephen Quinn, David Meyler, Shane Long and Kevin Doyle all return after missing the games against Mexico, Uruguay and Austria.

The Republic are second in Group D after six qualifying games, level on 12 points with Serbia and four points ahead of Wales and Austria.

They travel to Tbilisi to take on Georgia on September 2 before what could be a group-deciding game three days later when Serbia arrive at Dublin's Aviva Stadium.

Republic of Ireland squad:

Goalkeepers: Darren Randolph (Middlesbrough), Keiren Westwood (Sheffield Wednesday), Rob Elliot (Newcastle United), Colin Doyle (Bradford City)

Defenders: Cyrus Christie (Middlesbrough), Richard Keogh, Alex Pearce (Derby County), Paul McShane (Reading), Shane Duffy (Brighton & Hove Albion), Ciaran Clark (Newcastle United), John O'Shea (Sunderland), John Egan (Brentford), Greg Cunningham (Preston North End), Kevin Long, Stephen Ward (Burnley), Matt Doherty (Wolverhampton Wanderers)

Midfielders: Aiden McGeady (Sunderland), James McClean (West Bromwich Albion), Glenn Whelan, Conor Hourihane (Aston Villa), Jeff Hendrick, Robbie Brady (Burnley), James McCarthy (Everton), Stephen Quinn, Liam Kelly (Reading), David Meyler (Hull City), Harry Arter (Bournemouth), Eunan O'Kane (Leeds United), Wes Hoolahan (Norwich City), Jonathan Hayes (Celtic), Callum O'Dowda (Bristol City), Alan Browne, Daryl Horgan (Preston North End)

Forwards: Jonathan Walters (Burnley), Shane Long (Southampton), Daryl Murphy (Nottingham Forest), David McGoldrick (Ipswich Town), Kevin Doyle (Colorado Rapids), Sean Maguire (Preston North End)