Shane Ferguson included in NI U21 squad for Serbia game
Last updated on .From the section Football
Shane Ferguson has been included in the Northern Ireland Under-21 squad for the European Championship qualifier against Serbia in Coleraine on 15 November.
Previous Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington was unhappy when Ferguson did not answer a late call-up to the senior squad last month.
Worthington said that he had made numerous efforts to contact Ferguson.
Ferguson played for the under-21s the previous month and has now made himself available for the under-21s again.
After Worthington's comments last month, Ferguson replied that there were "two sides to every story".
Ferguson added on Twitter: "Some of these comments make me lol (laugh out loud)."
In May, there were reports that Ferguson was thought to be considering switching his allegiance to the Republic of Ireland, however, he returned to play for the Northern Ireland Under-21s in September.
Ferguson has a Northern Ireland senior cap after playing against Italy in a friendly two years ago.
As that was not a competitive fixture he is not yet tied to Northern Ireland.
There have been reports that a personality clash with Worthington, rather than a possible switch to the Republic, were behind Ferguson's elusiveness.
Steve Beaglehole has included other full caps Adam Thompson, Carl Winchester, Josh Carson, Jonny Gorman and Josh Magennis for the Under-21 clash at the Coleraine Showgrounds.
Cliftonville's Rory Donnelly has also been included in the squad for what it expected to be Beaglehole's final match in charge of the Under-21s.
Serbia currently lead the group with eight points from four games - a point ahead of Denmark who have a game in hand.
Macedonia have four points from two games with Northern Ireland on the same points total after four matches and the Faroe Island bottom with a single point from five games.
Northern Ireland will be in action against Macedonia away in February before back-to-back games against Macedonia and Denmark in September.
