McClean fails to make squad

Soccer:James McClean's hopes of making the Euro 2012 finals this summer look to have ended after being left out of the squad for the friendly international against the Czech Republic later this month, but Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni has promised the exciting young Sunderland winger that his time will come.

The 22-year-old from Derry has made a stunning start to his Premier League career with the Black Cats, with Martin O’Neill making him a permanent fixture in his line-up since he took over from Steve Bruce and claiming he is ready for international football.

Trapattoni, though, has kept his word and stayed loyal to the players who helped the country earn qualification for a major event for the first time in 10 years and named a 24-man squad with no surprises for the game against the Czechs at the Aviva Stadium on February 29th.

Among the fringe players to miss out are Liam Lawrence, Paul McShane and Ciaran Clarke, while the Norwich duo of Wes Hoolahan and Anthony Pilkington also failed to receive a call-up, though the manager name-checked the latter as another for the future.

Trapattoni spoke to Derryman McClean, who was cleared to play for the Republic this week, and reassured him he is part of his long-term planning.

“I spoke to him, I said congratulations James and I hope you will come with us. He said he wanted to and I told him 100 per cent he will be with us in the future,” said Trapattoni, before going on to reiterate his position on picking the players who helped earn qualification.

“We always follow players that will be the future like McClean, Pilkington and [Shane] Duffy. I said we would start with them in the new season. The players who have been with us deserved to come with this team. We have no time to start with these players."

Séamus Coleman has been included in the squad despite his present absence from the Everton line-up due to injury, while Aiden McGeady, who picked up a shin injury on Spartak Moscow’s warm-weather training camp in Spain, is also named.

The manager, however, is clearly looking for continuity, in terms of both preparation and squad harmony.

“This game is the beginning of our Euro 2012 preparations,” said Trapattoni. “As we face this fixture, it is important for our players to remember the attitude and performance that brought us qualification.

“The Czech Republic are a strong team, and their system is similar to Croatia and Spain. This game is vital in helping us choose our 23-player squad for May. We will continue to monitor our players afterwards, and keep a close eye on their fitness in the coming months.”

Ireland will complete their preparations with games against Bosnia-Herzegovina at the Aviva Stadium on May 27th and Hungary in Budapest on June 4th either side of their Italian training camp.

They will launch their Group C campaign against Croatia in Poznan on June 10th before tough clashes with reigning World and European champions Spain in Gdansk four days later and Italy back in Poznan on June 18th.

Republic of Ireland squad

Goalkeepers

Shay Given (Aston Villa)

Keiren Westwood (Sunderland)

David Forde (Millwall)

Defenders

John O’Shea (Sundrland)

Stephen Kelly (Fulham)

Stephen Ward (Wolves)

Seamus Coleman (Everton)

Richard Dunne (Aston Villa)

Seán St Ledger (Leicester City)

Darren O’Dea (Leeds Utd)

Kevin Foley (Wolves)

Midfielders

Glenn Whelan (Stoke City)

James McCarthy (Wigan)

Keith Andrews (West Brom)

Keith Fahey (Birmingham City)

Darron Gibson (Everton)

Damien Duff (Fulham)

Aiden McGeady (Spartak Moscow)

Stephen Hunt (Wolves)

Forwards

Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy, on loan to Aston Villa)

Kevin Doyle (Wolves)

Shane Long (West brom)

Simon Cox (West Brom)

Jon Walters (Stoke City)