SEAN THORNTON is set to miss more than half of Sunderland's remaining Premiership fixtures after Irish football bosses indicated they would not grant Howard Wilkinson's request for the midfielder to miss the World Youth Championship.

Thornton, 19, could be absent for five of Sunderland's last nine games after he was named in the Ireland squad for the Under-20 tournament.

The Championship, due to begin in the United Arab Emirates on March 25, is in doubt because of the Iraq crisis.

FIFA will meet this week to decide whether the event should take place.

The Football Association of Ireland are also looking at the possibility of withdrawing from the event because of safety concerns.

But they were last night expected to turn down Sunderland's plea to let Thornton play a full part in their relegation battle, and instead take him to the UAE.

Wilkinson had said: "I will be contacting the Football Association of Ireland and requesting that they release Sean from the tournament so he can play for his club.

"It's a FIFA tournament, so according to the letter of the law they're entitled to him regardless of our wishes. It's down to individual countries to decide."

The Football Association have decided not to pick a clutch of young England stars, including Everton's Wayne Rooney, but the Irish are understood to have taken a different approach.

Thornton, who has made a promising start to his first-team career at Sunderland, would miss up to five Premiership matches if he were to link up with his Ireland colleagues.

With the Black Cats staring into the abyss, Wilkinson wants to have every fit player at his disposal if he is to pull off an increasingly unlikely successful rescue mission.

Ireland will play a friendly with Egypt in Dublin on March 15 before leaving for Al-Ain two days later.

They are in the same group as Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Ivory Coast, and the final is on April 16.

If Ireland went all the way, Thornton would miss Sunderland's fixtures with Bolton Wanderers, Chelsea, West Ham United, Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion.

Thornton's clubmates Mark Rossiter and Stephen Capper, plus Newcastle United's Stephen Brennan, are also in the Ireland squad.

* Thomas Sorensen was watched by Arsenal's reserve team coach Eddie Niedzwiecki, the former Chelsea goalkeeper, at Fulham on Saturday. The Gunners are long-term admirers of the Denmark international.

Sunderland's new academy director Kees Zwamborn began his job at the club's Academy of Light yesterday.