Givens recalls Steven Reid for trip to Cardiff

A week short of five years after he last performed the role, Don Givens named his second senior international squad yesterday. The passage of time rather than the performance in Athens, it seems safe to presume, is the reason only eight of the players he selected then make the panel for Cardiff this time around.

Amongst those retained are Shay Given, Kevin Kilbane and John O'Shea, who was handed his first senior start by Givens against the Greeks. But there is a far stronger sense of continuity with the recently-ended Staunton regime as the interim manager has passed up the opportunity to draft in any new faces.

Recalling Steven Reid was perhaps as close as he came with the Blackburn midfielder, once a central part of Steve Staunton's plans, having been sidelined for the vast majority of the Louthman's tenure.

He has yet to play a first team game for his club since returning from the knee injury picked up against Germany in Stuttgart but Givens said yesterday that he has made good progress in recent weeks and that he intends to make a more informed call on his fitness after the squad gather next week in Newport.

"He played 45 minutes in a practice game," says Givens, "then I saw him play an hour for the reserves and since then he's played 75 and 90 minutes so as long as it keeps going in the right direction I'm hopeful.

"He'll probably play once or twice more before heading to Wales and at that point I'll be able to judge how much of a part he'll be able to play there."

Despite the midfielder having picked up his injury while on international duty, Givens said there had been no suggestion so far from anyone at Ewood Park that his club did not want him to travel. "The phone call might come now, though," he laughed.

There may be others too. Shay Given told Givens on Monday that while he does not expect to be fit to play for his club this weekend, he has not ruled out travelling to Cardiff. "There's a doubt about Shay," conceded the interim manager, "but I spoke to Shay last night and he was fairly positive. I was delighted because he's one of our big players so I'd be prepared to wait until the last minute for him."

Sam Allardyce, however, may have other ideas about the prospect of his keeper shaking off the groin strain that kept him out of the weekend's game against Portsmouth quite so quickly, not least because his replacement, Steve Harper, was beaten four times.

And Joey O'Brien, though named in the squad yesterday, is likely to withdraw (or be withdrawn) due to a hamstring problem while others may come under pressure from managers not terribly keen on seeing their players risked in what they will view as a game of no great importance.

Givens suffered wholesale withdrawals ahead of the Greek game but he is not expecting a repeat of the problems he had then because of the different nature of next week's game.

"Well, for a start it's a competitive game so we're in a stronger position to at least pull the players in and have a look at them if the clubs say they're injured but more importantly really, I think the players come under pressure from their clubs where friendly games are concerned and I don't think that's the case so much when it's a qualifier.

"In any case, I have no time for the idea that this game is in any way meaningless . . . It's never meaningless when you're pulling on the green jersey. You know that when you're standing there for the national anthem."

Finishing third, he says, is also important for pride's sake. "I know I'll only be in charge for one game but that group table will be there for people to see forever and I'll be reminding the players of that."

Paul Clement, who works with Givens at under-21 level, will serve as first team coach next week while Alan O'Neill will work with the goalkeepers. Bobby Robson will also be in Cardiff and Givens says he is pleased to avail of his expertise. "He's as enthusiastic about helping me as he was about helping Steve and I'll gladly make use of the knowledge he has to share."

Senior squad:Given (Newcastle), J Murphy (Scunthorpe), C Doyle (Birmingham); Finnan (Liverpool), Kelly (Birmingham), Dunne (Man City), McShane (Sunderland), A O'Brien (Bolton), J O'Brien (Bolton), O'Shea (Man Utd); McGeady (Celtic), Carsley (Everton), Douglas (Leeds), S Reid (Blackburn), A Reid (Charlton), Miller (Sunderland), Hunt (Reading), Kilbane (Wigan); Keane (Tottenham), D Murphy (Sunderland), Stokes (Sunderland), K Doyle (Reading).

Under-21 squad:Randolph (Charlton), Quigley (UCD), Nolan (Blackburn), Keogh (Huddersfield), O'Dea (Celtic), Spillane (Norwich), Gleeson (Wolves), Powell (Bohs), O'Toole (Watford), O'Halloran (Aston Villa), Garvan (Ipswich Town), Quinn (Sheffield United), McCann (Burnley), O'Brien (Celtic), Rooney (Chesterfield), Stokes (Sunderland), Sammon (UCD), Treacy (Blackburn), Clarke (Ipswich Town).

As the English FA has settled for issuing a stern warning about his future conduct in the wake of Monday's goal celebration, interim Ireland boss Don Givens cautioned "Stephen Ireland really has to sort Stephen Ireland out," if the Manchester City midfielder is to achieve anything like his potential at international level.

"I've seen him play many times for us and I was at the game last night (against Sunderland) but he needs to sort himself out," said Givens. "If that happens then I'm sure whoever the manager is will be delighted to have him available to him because Stephen's a talented boy, there's no doubt about it."

Givens said he had not considered Ireland for selection on this occasion because of events during the build-up to the games against Germany and Cyprus. The player had declined to travel home for the double header on the basis of unspecified problems that had initially been raised when he unexpectedly left the squad after the game in Bratislava.

At the time, Ireland claimed that his grandmother had died which he subsequently admitted was a lie. He subsequently said that his partner had a miscarriage although there were reports he believed he had been bullied by other squad members.

"I felt that Steve Staunton and the association had made a lot of effort to get him back in," said Givens. "And I felt that it was time for a bit of effort to come from the other side but it wasn't forthcoming." Asked whether he had made his views known to the player, Givens insisted it wasn't a matter for him but for the new manager to address.