Duo receive call-ups

Two more West Ham United players have been called-up to represent their countries during next week's international break.

Robbie Keane and James Tomkins have been included by Republic of Ireland and England Under-21s respectively as the 2011 international calendar kicks-off.

Captain Keane should earn his 105th senior cap for Ireland when they take on Danny Gabbidon's Wales at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin in their opening Carling Nations Cup fixture on Tuesday 8 February.

The 30-year-old has scored a national-record 45 goals for his country, including one in a 2-2 2008 UEFA European Championship qualifying draw with the Welsh - including Gabbidon - in Cardiff in November 2007.

Tomkins, meanwhile, has been called-up to the England U21 squad for the first time since appearing in a UEFA European U21 Championship qualifier against Macedonia in October 2009.

The centre-back, who has seven U21 caps and appeared at the 2009 UEFA European Championship finals in Sweden, has been in superb form for West Ham of late.

Those performances have been rewarded by a re-call from U21 coach Stuart Pearce, who has included the 21-year-old in his squad for a friendly match against Italy in Empoli on the afternoon of Tuesday 8 February.

The pair are joined on international duty next week by Gabbidon, who will hope to shackle new team-mate Keane when the pair clash in Dublin.