SOCCER:KEITH TREACY, Paul Green and Darren O'Dea have all retained their places in the Ireland squad for next month's opening games of the new European Championship qualification campaign but there will be some concern about the range of Giovanni Trapattoni's striking options against Armenia and Andorra, particularly if Kevin Doyle has not fully established his fitness before the trip to Yerevan.
Doyle has resumed training at Wolves this week after a calf injury that prevented him taking part in the friendly against Argentina and could well feature against Everton this weekend, but the 26-year-old has had a difficult pre-season with injuries and his fortunes over the next couple of weekends will be closely watched by the Irish management team.
Standing in for Trapattoni at the squad announcement in Wexford yesterday, Marco Tardelli said he hopes the striker will be fully fit and available for the games with the former Italy international identifying Armenia as a key test for the side.
“We want to go to Armenia and win,” he said. “Of course it’s normal that we try to win against Andorra too but for me Armenia is very important.”
If Doyle does encounter any problems between now and then, Trapattoni has limited options in terms of replacements with Shane Long the only other out and out striker included in the 25-man squad apart from team captain Robbie Keane.
Cillian Sheridan remains with the under-21s after a fairly subdued performance alongside Keane in the friendly against Argentina while Anthony Stokes is also overlooked despite his outstanding performance in the 5-0 win for the under-21s against Estonia. Caleb Folan will also be absent again on this occasion.
Treacy, meanwhile, profits from the absence due to injury of Stephen Hunt and the Preston winger will hope to get the opportunity to build on what was a strong showing after coming on in the second half against the South Americans.
Green and Keith Fahey also feature in the travelling party along with O’Dea, who has just moved on loan to Ipswich Town after again being told that he does not feature in the short-term plans of Celtic manager Neil Lennon.
Aiden McGeady, now of Spartak Moscow, has been recalled after being allowed to miss the friendly so as to sort out his move from Parkhead while Andy Keogh’s inclusion along with regular starters Damien Duff and Liam Lawrence, ensures that there will be a fair few attacking options from midfield.
In defence, the return of Sean St Ledger also leaves the management with a decision or two to make.
On the face of it, if everyone stays fit, Trapattoni could revert to the back four he employed with some success at the tail end of the last campaign but the manager had previously hinted that John O’Shea might shift to left back.
Greg Cunningham’s inclusion suggests that he is still seen as a long-term option in the position despite having essentially slipped down the pecking order at Manchester City due to the club’s remarkable bout of summer spending.
Noel King and Wim Koevermans, meanwhile, have named an unchanged under-21 squad for the qualifying games against Switzerland and Turkey in the wake of the big home win over Estonia.
“We can’t qualify for the European Championships but we want to end the campaign on a positive note,” said Koevermans, the association’s High Performance director who will take charge for the games due to King’s involvement with the under-17 Women’s World Cup.
“We showed against Estonia what this team is capable of,” he said, “so we want to go to Switzerland and Turkey and put in the same kind of performance.”
Fifa’s Player Status Committee, meanwhile, has confirmed the eligibility of Everton defender Shane Duffy to play for the Republic of Ireland. The Derry native was badly hurt during a training game in Malahide back in May while awaiting clearance.
SENIOR SQUAD (To face Armenia and Andorra in 2012 European Championship qualifiers on September 3rd and September 7th): Given (Manchester City), Westwood (Coventry), Murphy (Scunthorpe); O’Shea (Manchester United), Dunne (Aston Villa), St Ledger (Preston), Cunningham (Manchester City), Foley (Wolves), Kelly (Fulham), McShane (Hull), O’Dea (Ipswich); Kilbane (Hull), Andrews (Blackburn), Whelan (Stoke), Gibson (Manchester United), Green (Derby), Lawrence (Stoke), McGeady (Spartak Moscow), Keogh (Wolves), Duff (Fulham), Fahey (Birmingham), Treacy (Preston); Keane (Tottenham), Doyle (Wolves), Long (Reading).
UNDER-21 SQUAD (To face Switzerland and Turkey in 2011 UEFA European Championships qualifying matches on September 3rd and 7th): Henderson (Bristol City), Redmond (Chesterfield); Coleman (Everton), Nolan (Scunthorpe), Gunning (Blackburn), Moloney (Nottingham Forest), Kiernan (Yeovil), Oyebanjo (Histon); Gleeson (MK Dons), Hourihane (Ipswich), Garvan (Crystal Palace), McCarthy (Wigan), Clifford (Chelsea), Judge (Blackburn); Sheridan (CSKA Sofia), Doran (Blackburn), Stokes (Hibernian), Mason (Plymouth).
