Stokes and Westwood out of Ireland squad

Anthony Stokes and Keiren Westwood have been withdrawn from the Republic of Ireland squad that travelled to Georgia this afternoon.

Westwood has been suffering from tonsillitis this week and was deemed not well enough to travel but Stokes has been dropped from the squad to get the numbers down to 23.

Martin O’Neill’s side open their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign in Tbilisi on Sunday evening (5pm Irish time).

“Keiren Westwood and Anthony Stokes will not travel,” a brief FAI statement explained this afternoon. “Everyone else trained and came through training without any concerns this morning.”

Ireland warmed up for their potentially testing trip to Tbilisi with a low-key 2-0 victory over a limited Oman side at the Aviva Stadium on Wednesday evening, in which O’Neill rested most of his big guns.

But the stakes will be very much higher on Sunday evening when Ireland attempt to launch their bid for qualification with victory over the Georgians just as they did six years ago, although in controversial circumstances.

That game, Giovanni Trapattoni’s first competitive encounter, was played in Mainz, Germany, rather than Tbilisi after the FAI expressed misgivings over the political situation in Georgia at the time, a stance which still rankles with the former Soviet state.

Goals from Kevin Doyle and Glenn Whelan secured a 2-1 victory - indeed, Ireland have won all five of their encounters with Georgia to date, and an extension of that record would be most welcome this time around.