Kerr offers some hope to omitted players

SOCCER: Ian Harte, Richard Dunne and Mark Kinsella were among the omissions from the squad named yesterday by Brian Kerr for Wednesday week's friendly international against Bulgaria at Lansdowne Road, Ireland's final warm-up game before their World Cup qualifying campaign begins against Cyprus in Dublin on September 4th.

Graham Barrett and the three Alans, Maybury, Quinn and Lee, all of whom featured heavily in the series of friendlies played at the end of last season, retain their places in the 23-man squad which also includes Damien Duff, Roy Keane and Liam Miller.

Despite being ruled out of the Manchester United squad for Sunday's Community Shield defeat by Arsenal Miller confirmed to Kerr he was fully fit and available for selection.

Stephen Carr, on the brink of a move to Newcastle, Gary Breen, Graham Kavanagh, Kevin Kilbane and David Connolly all return to the panel after missing the summer friendlies through injury.

Still not fit, however, is Robbie Keane who sustained an ankle injury in a pre-season friendly against Rangers a fortnight ago. The prognosis then was the striker would be out for four to six weeks but having spoken to the player Kerr is cautiously hopeful he will be fit in time for the Cyprus game.

"Robbie thinks he has a chance of making it and naturally Spurs want him available as soon as possible, which can only help us. We just have to wait and see but he's being very positive. He has four weeks before our next competitive game so we'll see how it goes."

Duff is, though, available again, for the first time since the March friendly against the Czech Republic, following his shoulder operation in May. He returned to action for Chelsea on their USA tour and played 45 minutes of Sunday's pre-season friendly against Real Zaragoza.

"Damien seems to be fine," said Kerr, "he said he just needed to play a few games to get over any lingering negative thoughts that might be in his head, but the operation was obviously a success."

Apart from Robbie Keane the only other player unavailable to Kerr for the Bulgaria game is Steven Reid who had surgery at the weekend on a fractured bone in his foot, an injury he picked up in a pre-season match against Preston last month. Reid, whose debut season for Blackburn, after signing from Millwall last summer, was also ruined by injury problems, is expected to be out for at least 10 weeks.

"Steven has had a terrible bad run," said Kerr, "he's been available to us for very few games, and very few for Blackburn and they paid good money for him last year. Hopefully, he will get over this soon and it won't hold him back."

"You've got to feel sorry for him," said Blackburn manager Graeme Souness yesterday, "his career has never got going for us".

Kerr, meanwhile, insisted, "the people who have been left out of this squad aren't out of the picture", adding that Harte, Dunne and Kinsella, as well as some of the younger players blooded at senior level during the summer, will remain in his thoughts. Richard (Dunne) missed out on all the summer matches - we tried to accommodate him but he needed an operation at the end of the season and I hoped it could be postponed for a week or two. Having not done that it allowed other people in - I explained to him that that might happen.

"Ian (Harte) missed the last group of matches as well, Alan Maybury came in, played three and a half of the four games, and did very well. Ian isn't out of my thoughts by any means but he has just gone to a new club in Spain (Levante) so he'll need time to settle in.

"I saw Mark (Kinsella) on Saturday, I watched him playing well for Walsall, and I saw Mickey Doyle play really well for Coventry - I was at that game as well. These fellas are still in my thoughts, all of them know we're monitoring their form closely."

One of the players included in the squad, Nottingham Forest's Andy Reid, received some sympathy from Kerr yesterday in light of his position at his club. The midfielder, frustrated by Forest's lack of investment in new players during the summer and their refusal to accept a transfer bid from Tottenham, has handed in a transfer request.

"It's probably just frustrating for him that there's been so much talk about offers from Spurs and there's been so much comment from Forest in relation to his valuation," said Kerr, "but he's fine, his mind is on the job and he played well for them on Saturday."

Forest rejected a £5 million bid from Tottenham earlier in the year and were somewhat bemused when the London club came back with a considerably lower offer - £3 million - this summer. In turn Forest manager Joe Kinnear left Tottenham peeved by his suggestion Reid should set his sights higher. "I don't think we can hang on to him," he said. "He could go, and to a bigger club than Tottenham. He's got everything: passing, goals and toughness. I spoke to Alex Ferguson and he asked me who was my best player and I told him it was Andy. I told him he could get in the United team. He really is one for the future."

Kinnear has told Reid, who has two years left on his contract at Forest, he cannot leave for less than £5 million.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND SQUAD: Given (Newcastle United), Colgan (Barnsley), Kenny (Sheffield United), Finnan (Liverpool), Cunningham (Birmingham City), O'Brien (Newcastle United), Maybury (Hearts) O'Shea (Manchester United), Carr (Tottenham), Doherty (Tottenham), Breen (Sunderland), Miller (Manchester United), Quinn (Sheffield United), Keane (Manchester United), Holland (Charlton), Kavanagh (Cardiff City), Reid (Nottingham Forest), Barrett (Coventry City), Kilbane (Everton), Duff (Chelsea), Lee (Cardiff City), Morrison (Birmingham City), Connolly (Leicester City).