Joshua Kayode looks set to join up with the Republic of Ireland Under-21s – even though the Carlisle United striker is still sidelined with injury.

Blues boss Chris Beech said the Irish set-up want to assess the frontman.

Kayode was included in the international squad for this Friday’s game against Wales.

He has missed recent Blues games with an ankle problem and was not in the squad for Saturday’s defeat at Stevenage.

United hope Kayode will be fit to return soon and Beech hinted that the Blues would prefer the young frontman is not risked in international week.

Beech said of the Rotherham loanee: “Even though he’s currently injured they still want to see him.

“As far as he know he will touch base with his international mates [today] to get assessed on the ankle that’s currently still injured.

“Whether they feel it relevant to try and get him right for their game…we’ve advised what we think, and we have to wait and see.”

Kayode, who scored for the Under-21s against Luxembourg last November, looks certain to be absent for United’s game against Leyton Orient tomorrow.

It now remains to be seen whether he stands any chance of returning for the Cambridge game next weekend or the following Tuesday’s home game with Crawley.

Beech, meanwhile, insisted the decision on Dean Furman's involvement with South Africa this week was the midfielder's.

Furman, also out of Saturday’s United squad, was named in the Bafana Bafana squad for African Cup of Nations qualifiers against Ghana and Sudan.

The games are this Thursday and next Sunday respectively - but South African website City Press reported last night that head coach Molefi Ntseki had said Furman would not be joining up with the international squad.

Any departure would have left Furman set to miss an extended spell with United due to Covid-19 self-isolation rules.

“It’s down to personal choice for Dean,” Beech said when asked after Saturday's game.

Further reports today, though, have not entirely ruled out the possibility of Furman heading to South Africa.

EWN Sport say that Furman, along with Bongani Zungu, Thulani Serero and Keagan Dolly, will not feature in the Ghana game "but negotiations are ongoing to have them availabile for the [Sudan] game.

A report on the official Bafana Bafana channels added: "With certain players still having issues to travel to South Africa due to Covid-19 restrictions, coach Ntseki has decided to add five more new faces to the squad.

"Team Doctor, Dr Thulani Ngwenya, said while there were some issues regarding certain overseas-based players, they were busy negotiating with respective teams to make sure that all called up players are available for the upcoming games."