Trap to give fringe players another chance

Soccer: Darren O'Dea was one of four players to be rested during the Irish training session at the ground of Borgia A Buggiano this evening. Shay Given and John O'Shea were both restricted to light fitness work, while Paul McShane (bruised heel) didn't even make it out onto the pitch.

Celtic defender, O’Dea, has a slight thigh strain, Giovanni Trapattoni explained afterwards, and had been advised to take it easy, despite wanting to play in the end of session game.

He spent the tail end of the evening doing sit-ups and will, like the other three on the injury list, miss tomorrow evening’s friendly game.

Given and O’Shea, the manager said, continue to make progress, and the Sunderland defender, he suggested, could be in a position to resume full training on Wednesday.

The Irish take on a Tuscany XI in Pistoia at 7.30pm (Irish time) tomorrow and the manager said that he would hand starting roles to Keiren Westwood, Stephen Hunt, Stephen Kelly, Simon Cox and Jonathan Walters. He was a little vague on the identity of some of the other starters but Richard Dunne will, it seems, be at the heart of the defence, while Paul Green and Keith Andrews will be the central midfielders.

Where Kelly starts will depend on whether Trapattoni opts to start with Seán St Ledger or Stephen Ward, while the left winger appears set to be either James McClean or a redeployed Shane Long. There will many changes with Darron Gibson and Aiden McGeady amongst the others likely to feature at some point.

Trapattoni, meanwhile, said that the latest round of raids and arrests connected with allegations of corruption in Italian football is a “humiliation”.

Several Italian players, including Lazio captain Stefano Mauri and former Genoa midfielder Omar Milanetto, have been arrested today by police in connection with a match-fixing probe carried out by Cremona prosecutors.

“Every moment in Italy we have surprises,” said Trapattoni this evening. “Obviously we are not only sad but disappointed… very, very disappointed

“Italian football is not just this,” he continued. “In every country and every city you see it but we have this habit, we don’t have a good reputation and so it’s important that we clean things up. We can’t accept this sort of humiliation for Italian football every two or three years.

“Obviously, I am 15 years working in other countries – Germany, Austria, Portugal – and when you are away you are proud of your country and what it can achieve in football just as you are proud when you achieve good results in other countries. This sort of situation is a humiliation us and me in particular but not all the green is the same, some is not grass.”

The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) confirmed that Mauri and Milanetto have been held over allegations of “criminal association and sporting fraud”.

Officers are searching more than 31 homes in Italy and abroad, including those of coaches and players of clubs in Serie A, Serie B and lower divisions. Police also showed up this morning at Italy’s training ground in Coverciano, Florence, to question former Genoa defender Domenico Criscito, who now plays for Zenit St Petersburg.

He has subsequently left the squad in a bid to clear his name.

A statement from the FIGC read: “As part of the investigation carried out by prosecutors of Cremona regarding match-fixing, prosecutor Guido Salvini has issued 19 procedures: 14 people arrested (including Mauri and Milanetto), 31 home searches and two people questioned.

“Police agents also arrived to Italy’s training ground in Coverciano this morning to hand a notification of impeding investigation to defender Domenico Criscito, who is investigated for acts that would have taken place while he was a Genoa player.”

Additional reporting by PA