Fringe players to get a game

MEMBERS OF the Ireland squad who have been omitted from Giovanni Trapattoni's recent team selections will get the opportunity to impress the coach in a game being organised for October 11th, four days before the Republic play Cyprus at Croke Park.

Few details of the game were available yesterday, but Marco Tardelli, Trapattoni's assistant,revealed it was planned, and John Delaney confirmed the intention was that a British or Continental club side would be brought in to face what would be billed as an Ireland B team at a venue in the Dublin area.

"Preferably you would like it to be a League of Ireland selection," said Delaney, "but it's right in the middle of the season.

"We have to be conscious of when those games are on, but if it suits, we might do it on the Saturday afternoon."

That Saturday is an international date on which Ireland do not have a game. Some members of the management are expected to be in Sofia for the qualifier between Bulgaria and Italy.

It seems, however, they will take the opportunity to give a run-out to squad members marginalised because Trapattoni has been picking a settled team.

"He (Trapattoni) said on the plane back from Montenegro that he would like to do it," remarked Delaney. "We can't say too much at this stage, but it would be a European or maybe British side and the game would probably be staged in Dublin or somewhere close by like Bray."

Tardelli, meanwhile, revealed Rome would be his preferred venue for next April's World Cup qualifier against the world champions and qualification favourites, Italy.

"I prefer Roma because it is a big stadium," he said at yesterday's Eircom sponsorship announcement. "Milano and the other stadiums are little, but Roma is very big and maybe that would suit our players.

"It's a bigger stadium and the people are farther away from the pitch," he continued. "In the San Siro the people are very close to the pitch."

Tardelli says he does not mind who wins other games in the group between now and then as long as Ireland win their games.

He insists he is optimistic about the Republic's prospects given how the players have taken to working with Trapattoni.

"We're very happy with the way the games (against Georgia and Montenegro) went," he said.

"The players played the way Trapattoni wants them to.

"There has already been a change in the mentality and there is very good communication between everyone.

"It's still possible to improve, but the sense is that the players want to work for each other and help each other. That's very, very important."