Duff's withdrawal the latest blow for Staunton

Damien Duff is the latest Republic of Ireland player to withdraw from Steve Staunton's dwindling squad ahead of tomorrow night's friendly international with Holland at Lansdowne Road.

The Newcastle clubman has a tight groin and failed to train at the stadium this morning.  The injury also restricted his session in Malahide yesterday, sitting out the final 10 minutes which Staunton had initially put down to "tiredness".

However, the manager did say his decision to send Duff back to his club was precautionary rather than enforced and the hope is the Dubliner will be fully recuperated by the time Ireland travel to Germany for their European 2008 qualifier in a little over two weeks.

Still, Duff's absence is a considerable blow to Staunton who has seen seven players withdraw injured since naming his initial squad.  Captain Robbie Keane, Shay Given, Richard Dunne, Ian Harte, Stephen Ireland, Alan Lee and Terry Dixon are all sidelined.

Staunton - who called up Jonathan Douglas and Daryl Murphy during the week - won't be adding any further personnel at this late stage, leaving him with just 18 players - two of which are goalkeepers - ahead of the game.

"It was not worth taking a chance on Damien especially when Germany is only two and a half weeks away" says Staunton.

"He feels a wee bit of tightness in the groin and its just not worth the risk.  He knows that himself...if the injured lads come back too early then they could put themselves out of the (Germany) game and that's not a risk we want to take."

With captain Keane and vice-captain Given both sidelined, Staunton hands the armband to Blackburn's Steven Reid.  The manager confirmed Reid would start in centre midfield and is confident the added responsibility will bring the player on.

"He had a great season last year," Staunton explains.  "He's shown in training that he's taken on board everything we've tried to do.  He's maturing both as a player and a person."

Reid, who was told of his new, albeit temporary, role just 10 minutes after this morning's training, was surprised but elated with the honour.

Staunton, though, had been grooming both Reid and Manchester United's John O'Shea as midfield partners but in light of the current injury situation, he will start O'Shea in centre defence.

The manager concedes it is far from ideal to disrupt the partnership but said there was little point adding to the squad at this late stage.

Staunton then refused to offer further hints of his team selection, stressing he was almost sure of the make-up but had yet to tell his players. He will, though, deploy a 4-4-2 formation, a system he hopes will carry Ireland through "this campaign and the next."

"I'm looking forward to the game tomorrow as it's a young squad we've got," he says.  "It's a transitional period and due to injuries it's coming a bit quicker for some of the players but still it's exciting times ahead.

"But look, the result in Germany is more important.  I'm looking for an energetic, exciting display and we've some young, talented players who over the next four years will come more and more into it as long as they're allowed progress.

"I'm delighted with the players and the progress we've made as they are definitely taking on board my plans.  The penny is dropping with a few of them and this is the way we want to go forward."

Young Newcastle player Alan O'Brien, in the squad for the first time, is also a doubt for the game after picking up a minor back injury in training.