SOCCER:Richard Dunne has emerged as the latest doubt for Don Givens ahead of Saturday's European Championship qualifier against Wales in Cardiff. The caretaker Republic of Ireland manager said yesterday the Manchester City defender had bruised a calf muscle while playing against Portsmouth at the weekend.
The Dubliner turned in another strong performance for City in the game and would be regarded as a major loss if he fails to recover in time. Givens will wait until he has received further treatment at his club before making a final call on whether he is likely to be fit enough to feature for the Republic.
Similarly, Shay Given and Stephen Kelly will not arrive in Wales until at least tomorrow. The pair, who are suffering from groin and knee problems respectively, are both considered significant doubts for the qualifier at this stage though no decision will be made on whether to replace them until later in the week.
With Givens having missed the derby game against Sunderland at the weekend, Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce has suggested the goalkeeper's problem is, in part, psychological. "The specialists say there should be no problem with it, but I think he's got uptight about it.
"That's disrupted his technique and put a lot of pressure on those areas," he said. "He's just got to forget about it, the specialist has told him to just keep doing his prevention work, his goalkeeping work, but not to overdo it. I think he's overdone it by the will of wanting to get better and better."
The rest of the Ireland squad are due to gather at Newport this afternoon.
Tottenham full-back Gareth Bale has withdrawn from the Wales squad for their games against Ireland and Germany. Bale (18) has still not recovered from a foot injury and sat out Spurs' victory against Wigan on Sunday.
Pat Fenlon, meanwhile, postponed naming his side for this evening's under-23 international against Slovakia at Dalymount Park until after fitness tests on Longford striker Dave Mooney, Bohemians midfielder Stephen O'Donnell and Derry City winger Killian Brennan.
Drogheda United's Brian Shelley scored an impressive treble yesterday, landing the Eircom/Soccer Writers' of Ireland Association player of the month award for October, a place in the PFAI premier division team of the season and a nomination for the association's Ford-sponsored Player of the Year award.
Shelley's Drogheda team-mate Damien Lynch completed a move to St Patrick's Athletic yesterday. Manager John McDonnell, whose side plays a friendly against the leading Polish side Wisla Krakow this evening, has released Darragh Maguire. The centre half was one of the Inchicore outfit's best performers through much of the season but has consistently declined to go full-time.
Shamrock Rovers, who let 11 first-team squad members go over the weekend, are believed to be interested in recruiting the defender.
Derry City chief executive Jim Roddy has said his decision to leave after 14 years of day-to-day involvement is due to "personal reasons".
He, chairman Hugh McDaid and several other directors will depart after the club's agm later this month. McDaid says the club needs an injection of "new blood and fresh thinking" but insists the financial position is sound and they are leaving the club in good shape.
PFAI PLAYER OF THE YEAR NOMINEES:Premier Division: K Fahey (St Patrick's Athletic), J Gamble (Cork City), D Mooney (Longford Town), B Murphy (Bohemians), S Robinson (Drogheda United), B Shelley (Drogheda United). First Division: C Gethins (Finn Harps), S Guthrie (Cobh Ramblers), T Shields (Finn Harps). Young Player: C Powell (Bohemians), M Quigley (St Patrick's Athletic), C Sammon (UCD). Referee of the year: C Fitzgerald, A Kelly, P Tuite.
LEAGUE OF IRELAND PREMIER DIVISION TEAM OF THE YEAR:B Murphy (Bohemians), B Shelley (Drogheda United), S Webb (Drogheda United), J Gamble (Cork City), K Oman (Derry City), G Gartland (Drogheda United), K Fahey (St Patrick's Athletic), A Hughes (Sligo Rovers), D Mooney (Longford Town), M Quigley (St Patrick's Athletic), D O'Brien (Galway United).
FIRST DIVISION TEAM OF THE YEAR:J Gallagher (Finn Harps), A Carey (Cobh Ramblers), S Holmes (Finn Harps), T Shields (Finn Harps), P Purcell (Limerick 37), S Guthrie (Cobh Ramblers), J Chambers (Shelbourne), C Sinnott (Wexford Youths), C Gethins (Finn Harps), G Cummins (Cobh Ramblers), D O'Neill (Cobh Ramblers).
