Keiren Westwood was outstanding for Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship last season and after signing a new contract at Hillsborough in the summer, the goalkeeper has made a promising start to his new campaign.

The 34-year-old has continued his good form from last season and has played a key role in the Owls promising start to the campaign.

Even though he's only managed to keep two clean sheets so far, Westwood has been in great form and has pulled off some typically spectacular saves.

The goalkeeper did suffer a setback recently though, when he was left out of Mick McCarthy's Republic of Ireland squad for this month's Euro 2020 qualifiers against Georgia and Switzerland.

In fact, if McCarthy's recent comments are anything to go by, it seems as though Westwood's days as an international goalkeeper could be over.

Having won 21 caps for his country over the course of his career, Westwood will no doubt be disappointed to have been left out of the squad.

There may well be an element of frustration there too, as it seems as though his decision to withdraw from the squad for the clash with Switzerland last month played a big role in McCarthy's decision.

However, Westwood is an experienced goalkeeper and he will know that he must not let his recent international setback affect his form for Sheffield Wednesday.

Westwood is going to have an extremely important role to play for the Owls in the Championship this season and he cannot let this setback distract him from their promotion push.

In fact, the fact that his international career appears to be over could turn out to be a blessing for Sheffield Wednesday, as it will allow him to focus solely on his club career.

There's no doubt that Westwood is a fantastic goalkeeper, one of the best in the Championship.

You only have to look at the upturn in results when he returned to the Sheffield Wednesday side under Steve Bruce in the second half of last season to understand just how important he is to the club.

McCarthy's decision to exclude him from the national squad doesn't change any of that. If anything, it should give him the motivation to do even better this season.

Westwood will probably feel that he's got a bit of a point to prove to McCarthy if he wants to get his international career back on track and what better way to do that than inspire Sheffield Wednesday to promotion this season.

There's no doubt that Westwood is going to have an extremely important role to play for the Owls this campaign.

Now that he doesn't have to think about being selected for his country or qualifying for major tournaments, he can focus firmly on his club career and the Owls' promotion push.

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