O'Shea due to join squad

SOCCER/EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP SQUAD NEWS: John O'Shea and Steve Finnan are expected to join up with Brian Kerr's squad for the European Championship qualifiers against Georgia and Albania despite fears that the pair might have been ruled out of the games by injury.

O'Shea was described by Alex Ferguson as "a doubt for Ireland", after Saturday's defeat of Fulham, with the young defender reported to have picked up a hamstring problem during the game. The Irishman showed no signs of being injured, however, and an FAI spokesman confirmed last night that he has made it clear to Kerr that he intends to travel.

The news that Finnan will also arrive into Dublin suggests that the full-back is still in contention to feature in at least one of the qualifiers despite fracturing a rib in a friendly with West Ham.

Initial hopes that Clinton Morrison might also fly out to Tbilisi on Thursday morning evaporated yesterday, however, when the Birmingham City striker was forced to concede that there is no way he could hope to play after suffering what is believed to be a dislocated shoulder over the weekend against West Brom.

Kerr promptly set about lining up replacements, and first to be called in was Sheffield Wednesday's Alan Quinn, a wide midfielder from Dublin who is another one to have contributed to the Irish success at the European Youth Championships in Cyprus in 1998.

With Gary Kelly and Jason McAteer already out of the squad Kerr is likely to draft in one or two more, with Alan Maybury or Jeff Kenna, either of whom would provide cover at full-back, among those who might be getting a call.

It is believed, though, that the Ireland manager has already attempted to bring in Wolves winger Mark Kennedy, who scored twice for his club on Saturday, but Kerr was apparently told the player, who only recently returned from injury, is not available. But, again, there was little evidence that he was in difficulty during Saturday's game.

Kennedy was one of a number of Irish players to score for their clubs over the weekend, with Millwall's Steven Reid getting two against Sheffield Wednesday, David Connolly grabbing his 19th of the season for Wimbledon and Damien Duff hitting an outstanding 20-yard shot past Shay Given for Blackburn.

There was also good news from Tottenham, where it was confirmed yesterday that Robbie Keane is fit to play against Bolton this evening after recovering from a hamstring problem.