Morrison likely to miss Faroes

SOCCER: Clinton Morrison looks certain to miss Ireland's game against the Faroe Islands on Wednesday as a result of the knee injury he picked up during the first half of Saturday evening's drawn World Cup qualifier in Paris.

The Ireland manager, Brian Kerr, said he will make a final decision on the Birmingham City striker's fitness after seeing the results of a scan on the knee this morning but he conceded the player is "probably gone for Wednesday".

As a precaution, Morrison was on crutches as the team returned home from Paris yesterday although it was far from clear how serious the injury was.

The fear is that he has damaged ligaments, in which case he could be looking at a month on the sidelines. If there is only bruising, however, the player's return would be much more swift. Yesterday the knee was said to be sore but somewhat improved.

There were no other reports of injuries within the squad in the aftermath of the game and the bulk of the squad will train close to their north Dublin base this morning, when a slightly revamped line-up may begin to take shape for what should be a very different sort of game on Wednesday night.

One man who will be missing this morning is Shay Given, who returned to Newcastle yesterday to be with his wife, who's expecting their first baby .

"I'm going back tomorrow for a day, maybe a day and half," he said after Saturday's game, "but I'll be back, probably on Monday night, for the game."

Richard Dunne's calf muscle injury has not healed sufficiently to allow the Manchester City defender rejoin the squad.