Young forward Owen Elding is relishing the experience of training with the senior Republic of Ireland squad as he awaits his Irish passport to play for the national team.Elding was selected for Ireland as a training player and is not eligible to play until he gets his documentation sorted, but he believes he will be ready to play in September, after a ceremony for the naturalisation at the end of June.The Hibernian player had been on the cusp of getting his Irish citizenship and passport earlier this month, but for fuel protests which brought traffic up and down the country to a standstill.“Obviously when I spoke to Heimir [Hallgrímsson] about coming in, he wanted me to come in for this camp, get a feel of the group, get a feel of international football and all that.“It shows that he’s got big ambitions for me. Coming in and getting that taste of international football, like I said, it’ll only help me in my club as well, giving me that confidence to go on and kick on.”The English-born striker grew up in Sligo after moving there aged seven and won PFAI Player of the Year in 2025 for Sligo Rovers, earning him a move to Scottish side Hibernian.He is one of three young forwards in the squad for these friendlies, with teenagers Mason Melia and Jaden Umeh making their debuts against Qatar on Thursday night. The 20-year-old said that he had a healthy rivalry with Melia, formerly of St Patrick’s Athletic but now of Tottenham Hotspur, when he was in the League of Ireland.“Mason pushed me every week when I was at Sligo. Obviously me and him were battling for the Young Player of the Year, top goalscorer in the league. Whenever I’d scored, I’d go on and check if Mason had scored. Then I’d find out he’d scored two.“But yeah, it’s always good competition between us two, and then coming in and working alongside him here has been great.”Since arriving in the Scottish Premiership, Elding has impressed his Hibernian manager David Gray, who praised his adaptability, maturity and technical ability. With the English FA believed to be sniffing around on his eligibility, Hallgrímsson was keen to get his commitment nailed down.“Obviously there was a bit of interest [from England], but my full focus was on club football at that moment, performing well at Hibs and whatever came, came. To be fair, my full focus was always getting into this national team as well. Growing up in Sligo, most of my life is all I know. It’d be a dream to put on a green shirt.”