Finnan promises to return

STEVE FINNAN has confirmed his willingness to return to the Irish fold according to Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni but the intentions of Andy O'Brien and Stephen Ireland remain far less certain in the wake of last week's round of meetings in Manchester.

The Liverpool defender told the new Ireland manager that due to the need for him to undergo surgery on a hernia he will not be available until after the summer but, said Trapattoni as he named his squad of 28 for the training camp in Portugal and the games against Serbia and Colombia yesterday: "He said to me, 'when I'm fit I'll come back'."

It's good news for the Italian although as things have turned out he could have done with another experienced player in the Algarve. It may not quite be on a par with last year's trip to the United States but the 21-strong travelling party for Faro has a younger than expected look about it after the Italian confirmed Richard Dunne and skipper Robbie Keane will only join the squad at the end of next week.

It had been clear for some time that Shay Given and Lee Carsley would miss the week away as well as the friendly games against Serbia and Colombia that follow it because of injury while John O'Shea, Aiden McGeady and Darren O'Dea are amongst the players whose arrival into the squad will be delayed by ongoing club duties.

In addition to those, though, Trapattoni revealed Kilbane (back), Steven Reid (knee), Darron Gibson (ankle) and Joey O'Brien (hamstring) will play no part in the squad's activities while Keane's absence until the squad gathers back in Dublin for the first of the two games was attributed to "personal commitments".

The Tottenham striker is due to get married at the start of June and a recent newspaper report suggested he would travel with friends to Las Vegas for his "stag" in advance of the wedding. Asked if such a trip is the reason behind his absence from Faro, the veteran Italian neither confirmed nor entirely dispelled the notion.

"It's not that important," he said. "I don't know what that is. Robbie Keane has another commitment that was fixed long before I became manager. He spoke to me and I gave him permission to skip the trip before linking up with the squad when it returns to Dublin. I cannot say go cancel your wedding and come with us (so) I said, go quiet, rest and I need you immediately against Serbia and Colombia."