Reid's withdrawal tempered by Carsley's likely return

SOCCER: Steven Reid has been formally withdrawn from Ireland's squad for the forthcoming European Championship qualifiers against Cyprus and the Czech Republic, the Blackburn Rovers manager, Mark Hughes, insisting the player stay at Ewood Park for treatment on a back injury.

The midfielder picked up the injury in the game against Germany and had to be replaced at half-time. He has not played since, and when it became apparent he would not be available for the club's game this weekend, Hughes observed it would be "better for everyone if he stays behind and has intensive treatment".

The loss of the 25-year-old is another blow to Steve Staunton, who is already without Shay Given, Ian Harte and Graham Kavanagh for the games.

Andy Reid has also been ruled out of the Cypriot match - one the Ireland manager has said his side must win if they are to seriously contest one of the two top spots in the qualification group - while Stephen Elliott remains a major doubt and Damien Duff's presence remains uncertain even after he came on for 20 minutes for Newcastle on Thursday night.

Staunton said earlier this week he would not make any decisions regarding replacements until he had seen how the weekend's league games had gone. But it now looks increasingly likely that Lee Carsley will be called into an Ireland panel for the first time in more than two years.

Carsley's form for Everton this season certainly suggests he merits inclusion in a panel now looking desperately short on quality. The 32-year-old retired from international football a couple of years ago to spend more time with his family but has repeatedly flagged in recent months his willingness to play for the Republic again.

The squad is due to gather in Dublin on Tuesday before departing for Cyprus on Wednesday afternoon.

Czech Republic coach Karel Brückner, meanwhile, has called up the uncapped Slovan Liberec goalkeeper Marek Cech for his side's games against San Marino and Ireland.

The 29-year-old has made a strong start to the season with his club and will provide cover for Chelsea number one Petr Cech.

Aston Villa striker Milan Baros, who last played for the Czechs at the World Cup finals in Germany, returns after a foot injury.

The Germans will be without striker Gerald Asamoah until the spring after the Schalke 04 player suffered a broken leg in Thursday's Uefa Cup game against French side Nancy. Asamoah (27) shipped a reckless-looking challenge by Papa Diakhate and was rushed to hospital to have surgery.

With his side having taken six points from their opening games at the start of the month, Joachim Loew has included three newcomers to his squad for next month's matches against Georgia and Slovakia.

Hamburg SV playmaker Piotr Trochowski, Alemannia Aachen forward Jan Schlaudraff and Werder Bremen defender Clemens Fritz are all uncapped at this level but are in the squad named yesterday.

Germany are top of Group D after beating Ireland and San Marino, and next week they take on Georgia in a friendly game before travelling to Slovakia for their third qualifying match of the campaign on Wednesday week.

Loew also called up Robert Enke, the 29-year-old Hanover 96 goalkeeper, for the first of the two games. Enke was in the squad for the Confederations Cup in 1999 in Mexico but has yet to play for Germany.

Aside from Asamoah, the Werder Bremen pair Tim Borowski and Per Mertesacker as well as Christoph Metzelder, Sebastian Kehl, Jens Nowotny, Robert Huth and Sebastian Deisler are all ruled out of the games because of injuries.

Borowski injured his left leg in Werder's 1-1 draw with Barcelona on Wednesday while centre back Mertesacker made his comeback from a heel injury in that match only for club coach Thomas Schaaf to ask that he be given more time to complete his recovery.

The rest are suffering from longer-term problems.

CZECH SQUAD: J Blazek (Sparta Prague), M Cech (Liberec), P Cech (Chelsea); Z Grygera (Ajax Amsterdam), M Jankulovski (AC Milan), M Jiranek, R Kovac (both Spartak Moscow), D Rozehnal (Paris St Germain), T Ujfalusi (Fiorentina), T Zapotocny (Liberec); T Galasek, J Polak (both Nuremberg), D Jarolim (Hamburg SV), J Plasil (Monaco), T Rosicky (Arsenal), L Sionko (Rangers), T Sivok (Sparta Prague); M Baros (Aston Villa), J Koller (Monaco), M Kulic (Mlada Boleslav), D Lafata (Jablonec).

GERMAN SQUAD: R Enke (Hanover 96), T Hildebrand (VfB Stuttgart), J Lehmann (Arsenal); M Fathi (Hertha Berlin), A Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), M Friedrich (Mainz), C Fritz (Werder Bremen), M Jansen (Borussia Moenchengladbach), P Lahm (Bayern Munich), A Madlung (VfL Wolfsburg); M Ballack (Chelsea), T Frings (Werder Bremen), T Hitzlsperger (VfB Stuttgart), D Odonkor (Real Betis), B Schneider (Bayer Leverkusen), B Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), P Trochowski (Hamburg SV); M Hanke (VfL Wolfsburg), M Klose (Werder Bremen), O Neuville (Borussia Moenchengladbach), L Podolski (Bayern Munich), J Schlaudraff (Alemannia Aachen).