Kinsella in for Keane

Mark Kinsella is the man who will fill the shoes of departed Ireland skipper Roy Keane.

Mark Kinsella is the man who will fill the shoes of departed Ireland skipper Roy Keane.

The Charlton midfielder will partner Matt Holland in the team to face Hiroshima in tomorrow's final warm-up game against, which kicks off at 7.30am Irish time.

Kinsella is one of three changes to the team which faced Nigeria last week, which have been forced on manager Mick McCarthy by injury and the axing of Keane.

Gary Kelly comes in at right back to replace Fulham's Steve Finnan, who has an ankle problem, and Manchester City's Richard Dunne returns to partner new captain Steve Staunton in the heart of defence. He fills in for Wimbledon's Kenny Cunningham, who has a hamstring injury.

Finnan, Cunningham, Gary Breen (neck) and Lee Carsley (thigh) did not join in training with the rest of the squad this afternoon, but are all expected to be available for the World Cup Group E opener against Cameroon a week tomorrow.

Republic of Ireland team to play Sanfrecce Hiroshima tomorrow is: Given (Newcastle); Kelly (Leeds), Dunne (Manchester C), Staunton (Aston Villa capt), Harte (Leeds); McAteer (Sunderland), Kinsella (Charlton), Holland (Ipswich), Kilbane (Sunderland); Keane (Leeds), Duff (Blackburn).

  • Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date

  • Sign up for push alerts to get the best breaking news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone

  • Listen to In The News podcast daily for a deep dive on the stories that matter