John O’Shea ruled out of New York friendly

John O’Shea will miss the Republic of Ireland’s friendly international against Spain in New York next week following the death of his uncle this morning.

The FAI passed on its condolences to the Sunderland defender in a statement released this afternoon.

It read: “The FAI, the Irish team management, backroom team and players all offer their sincere condolences to John O’Shea on the death of his uncle, Jimmy O’Leary, in Waterford this morning.”

In total eight players have left the squad ahead of the flight to New York on Saturday afternoon, with Giovanni Trapattoni leading a 19-man squad for the game at Yankee Stadium next Tuesday night.

Wes Hoolahan (foot), Jon Walters (knee), Marc Wilson (operation to remove plate in a leg), who all started the 3-0 win over the Faroe Islands on Friday night, miss out through injury, while Aiden McGeady misses out due to a wedding and Glenn Whelan has been rested.

Richard Dunne will also miss the trip as he tries to find a new club for next season following his release by Aston Villa.

Under-21 goalkeeper Aaron McCarey of Wolves has been called up to replace Westwood.

Republic of Ireland (squad for game v Spain, Yankee Stadium, New York, Tuesday, June 11th): David Forde, Darren Randolph, Aaron Mc Carey; Sean St Ledger, Seamus Coleman, Damien Delaney, Darren O'Dea, Paul Mc Shane, Stephen Kelly, Richard Keogh; James McClean, David Meyler, James McCarthy, Andy Keogh, Jeff Hendrick, Stephen Quinn; Robbie Keane (capt), Simon Cox and Conor Sammon.