SOCCER – SQUAD NEWS: Manchester City midfielder Stephen Ireland will not return to the international stage for the Republic of Ireland's World Cup qualifier against Georgia next month while Sunderland's Andy Reid remains out of favour with manager Giovanni Trapattoni.
Speculation had mounted that Ireland would end his self-imposed international exile by declaring himself available for his country once again.
However, the 22-year-old was not included in Trapattoni’s 25-man squad this morning.
There is no place either for Reid, who was left out of the squad for the friendly clash with Poland in November with Trapattoni admitting he did not fit into his current plans.
The Sunderland playmaker has also been out of favour at his club, making his inclusion in the Italian manager’s squad all the more unlikely following their disagreement earlier in the campaign.
It also appears Trapattoni is losing patience with the ongoing subject regarding Ireland and Reid and at today's squad announcement at FAI headquarters in Dublin the Italian attempted to nip the matter in the bud.
"Today, Andy Reid or Ireland, please, it's finished. We speak with them. To clarify, it's finished," said Trapattoni.
"We are aiming to win. I hope the players will come back with the same spirit and full determination like they had in November. I hope they haven't forgotten the work done until now."
“This will be the first match of a very important year ahead in our challenge to qualify for the 2010 World Cup,” added the Italian.
“Georgia are strong opposition, but we believe in ourselves as a team and I look forward to our fans’ help to give us a home advantage throughout the 90 minutes.”
Espanyol full-back Steve Finnan and Birmingham counterpart Steven Kelly both return to the squad after missing the last two games through injury.
Noel Hunt also retained his place in the squad after receiving a late call-up for the friendly against Poland.
The Reading player is preferred to Anthony Stokes while Coventry's Keiren Westwood gets the third goalkeeping slot ahead of Scunthorpe's Joe Murphy.
Goals from Kevin Doyle and Glenn Whelan gave Ireland a 2-1 win over Georgia when they played in the German city of Mainz last September.
The game was switched from Tblisi to Germany because the former Soviet Republic was under attack at the time.
Four days after the win in Germany, Trapattoni’s side battled for a 0-0 draw with Montenegro in Podgorica to get their qualifying campaign off to a strong start.
The Republic cemented their promising start with a 1-0 home win over Cyprus in October and are currently second in Group 8, three points adrift of World champions Italy, but with a game in hand.
Ireland will take on Georgia at Croke Park on Wednesday, February 11th (7.45pm).
Republic of Ireland squad (v Georgia):
Goalkeepers: Shay Given (Newcastle), Dean Kiely (West Brom), Keiren Westwood (Coventry)
Defenders: Alex Bruce (Ipswich), Damien Delaney (QPR), John O'Shea (Manchester United), Kevin Foley (Wolves), Paul McShane (Sunderland), Richard Dunne (Manchester City), Stephen Kelly (Birmingham), Steve Finnan (Espanyol), Kevin Kilbane (Hull)
Midfielders: Aiden McGeady (Celtic), Damien Duff (Newcastle), Darron Gibson (Manchester United), Glenn Whelan (Stoke), Keith Andrews (Blackburn), Liam Miller (QPR), Stephen Hunt (Reading), Andy Keogh (Wolves), Caleb Folan (Hull)
Forwards: Kevin Doyle (Reading), Robbie Keane (Liverpool), Shane Long (Reading), Noel Hunt (Reading)
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