Portsmouth forward Marcus Harness with Republic of Ireland squad as Ronan Curtis makes full competitive debut against Bulgaria

The Pompey forward watched the goalless Nations League stalemate from the Aviva Stadium stands.

Harness met up with the Eire squad for the first time after the Blues’ 2-2 draw with Plymouth on Monday night.

The Republic had a number of players drop out of their set-up after testing positive for Covid-19.

The former Burton man wasn’t in Stephen Kenny’s squad, although paperwork has been ratified to represent Ireland in the future.

It’s reward for Harness’ superb form for Pompey this season, having scored scoring seven goals in 16 appearances.

Earlier this month, Blues boss Kenny Jackett backed the 24-year-old to make an international breakthrough.

Meanwhile, Pompey winger Ronan Curtis made his full competitive debut. It was his sixth cap for his country.

Curtis featured for 85 minutes and had a decent opportunity to score in the second half but his effort missed the target.