Soccer:Giovanni Trapattoni will name his Republic of Ireland squad for the forthcoming Euro 2012 qualifiers against Russia and Slovakia next Monday.
With wins over Armenia and Andorra already under their belts, Ireland currently top Group B but the next two matches are likely to make or break the side’s qualification campaign.
Russia are first up, with Dick Advocaat’s side due at the Aviva Stadium on October 8th, before the trip to Slovakia on October 12th. The match had been pencilled in for Slovakian capital Bratislava but Uefa confirmed last month that it would be moved 200km away to the city of Zilina.
Alan Kelly, meanwhile, will create a little piece of history tomorrow night when he becomes the first Irish referee to take charge of a Champions League group stage tie.
The 35-year-old Cork man, who has previous experience of European competition in the Europa League and also took charge of World Cup 2010 qualifiers, will oversee FC Basel’s trip to Cluj in Group E.
He will be assisted by an all-Irish team of officials with Damien McGrath and Ken Hennessy running the line, Anthony Buttimer and Neil Doyle acting as the additional assistant referees, and Padraig Sutton named as fourth official.
Paul Doolin has included four new faces in his squad for the Republic of Ireland under-23’s International Challenge Trophy match against Estonia.
Graham Cummins, Daniel Kearns, Jake Kelly and Enda Stevens are all set make their first appearances at this level in a match Ireland have to win to have any chance of making the semi-finals.
Republic of Ireland Under-23 squad(v Estonia): Darren Quigley (Sporting Fingal), Robert Duggan (Drogheda United), Seamus Conneely (Galway United), Kenny Browne (Sporting Fingal), Garry Breen (Dundalk), Enda Stevens (Shamrock Rovers), Conor Powell (Bohemians), Shaun Williams (Sporting Fingal), Stephen O'Donnell (Galway United), Graham Cummins (Cork City Foras Co-op), Greg Bolger (UCD), Ronan Finn (Sporting Fingal), Billy Dennehy (Shamrock Rovers), Gary McCabe (Sligo Rovers), Karl Sheppard (Galway United), Daniel Kearns (Dundalk), Jake Kelly (Bray Wanderers), Paddy Madden (Bohemians)