Folan and Andrews get the call

Squad news : Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni has called up five players to the senior international squad to face Cyprus in their World Cup qualifier next Wednesday.

Caleb Folan, Kevin Foley, Anthony Stokes, Keith Andrews and Darron Gibson have been promoted from the squad that defeated Nottingham Forest 2-0 in the representative fixture at Dalymount last night.

Hull City striker Folan made his first appearance for the Republic last night and marked it with the game's opening goal in the first half. He was replaced by Shane Long at halftime after picking up knock but his inclusion today would indicate that is not too much of a concern.

Last night's captain Alex Bruce was already named in the senior squad and remains, though he too left the Dalymount in some discomfort.

Blackburn's Andrews has been capped at underage level but, at the age of 28, has yet to claim a senior international cap.

His inclusion, along with that of Gibson, increases competition in the central midfield area where they will be competing with Liam Miller to replace the injured Steven Reid and partner Glenn Whelan.

Miller and Gibson look to have a headstart on the former Wolves captain given their previous, but limited, experience at senior international level and the fact that their passing range is more akin to that of Reid.

Andrews is similar to Whelan in style and does the simple stuff well but has been singled out for praise by the manager since he joined the squad.

Andy Reid could still be a contender but the manager's insistence that the tactics were unlikely to change appear to have ruled him out of a central berth, while the return of Damien Duff and the likelihood of the Newcastle man sharing the wing duties with Aiden McGeady hace further hampered his prospects of seeing any action at all.

Republic of Ireland squad

S Given (Newcastle United), D Kiely (West Brom), J Murphy (Scunthorpe United), A Bruce (Ipswich Town), D Delaney (QPR), R Dunne (Manchester City) , K Kilbane (Wigan Athletic), J O'Brien (Bolton Wanderers), J O'Shea (Manchester United), P McShane (Sunderland), S Hunt (Reading), A McGeady (Glasgow Celtic), D Duff (Newcastle United), L Miller (Sunderland), A Reid (Sunderland), G Whelan (Stoke City), K Doyle (Reading), R Keane (Liverpool), A Keogh (Wolves), S Long (Reading), D Murphy (Sunderland), C Folan (Hull City), K Foley (Wolverhampton Wanderers), A Stokes (Sunderland), K Andrews (Blackburn Rovers), D Gibson (Manchester United).