Hot and maybe not

Whose stock has risen and whose star has waned

Winners

David Forde

SOLID, confident and consistent against the Italians, the 31-year-old's mid- career surge continues and if he is not quite rivalling Keiren Westwood to be Shay Given's number two, he certainly seems to have nailed down the third goalkeeper's jersey just a couple of weeks after making his debut.

Darren O'Dea

HE may still look a little rough around the edges at times but the Dubliner's blood-and-guts approach clearly impressed Trapattoni, whose faith in the 24 year-old was repaid handsomely, particularly in Tuesday night's game when he was outstanding.

Stephen Hunt

SCARCELY an outsider prior to these past few games but having played just 16 minutes of international football in the 18 months or so prior to the Northern Ireland game, he confirmed his return to fitness in some style. Trapattoni described his contribution as "fantastic" yesterday.

Simon Cox

IF he can keep this up, then the West Brom player will be quite an addition to the group. Tuesday's goal made it two in four and there might have been a third goal but for a poor offside decision in Skopje. His performances so far suggest he can help to provide the team with a more flexible approach in attack.

Stephen Ward

LONG ignored by Trapattoni, the Wolves left back made up for some lost time over the past few weeks, starting three games, all of which were won without conceding a goal. Defended well and looked decent going forward. His pass to release Stephen Hunt in the build up to the second goal against Italy was quite nice too.

Losers

Marc Wilson

LIKE Stephen Ward and Ciarán Clark, the Stoke City player has looked a contender to replace Kevin Kilbane at left back when the time comes. Having been picked against Northern Ireland, however, he failed to materialise, a blunder compounded when Ward replaced him and did well.

Darron Gibson

THE manager came close to openly mocking the Manchester United midfielder's claim he was unable to travel because of a groin strain and Trapattoni may not be overly concerned about another bust up with the northerner in the wake of Keith Andrews's generally impressive return to the team.

Jonathan Walters

THE striker caught the manager’s eye against Wales back in February but has allowed his gaze to wander in the months since. Cox has leapfrogged him in the pecking order, while Long has probably benefited from his absence too. After a pretty good season, the Stoke City player finds himself having to do it all again after the summer.

Kevin Kilbane

OF those who came in for some or all of the last four games there are only really one or two contenders for this list and Kilbane edges the others not on the basis of what he did or didn’t do but because Ward’s form has added him to the growing list of credible contenders for Kilbane’s place when his future at club level is deeply uncertain.

James McCarthy

McCARTHY'S promise prompted a climb-down of sorts by Trapattoni who went to see him in order to straighten things about between them, then altered his system against Uruguay in the hope of seeing him shine. It didn't come off and now, perhaps under pressure from his club again, he is in the bad books again.

Non-movers

Keith Treacy

THE 22-year-old has bags of talent and shows all the signs of being a significant player in future years. Started against Northern Ireland and did okay but would have hoped for more than late appearances against the Scots and Italians to further his claims. Priority now, though, is to get a good move away from Preston over the summer.

Liam Lawrence

THE midfielder’s commitment is beyond question but he arrived carrying a slight knock which limited his ability to contribute. In the end, he started just one of the four games, while Stephen Hunt stole the show in terms of challenging for a spot out wide in Trapattoni’s teams for the big games this autumn.

Shane Long

MUST have been bitterly disappointed not to start against the Macedonians and Cox’s emergence threatens to prolong his wait for more opportunities. Bounced back, though, with a decent showing against Italy and has at least stolen a march on the likes of Walters and the elusive Caleb Folan.

Kevin Foley

AFTER a long time around the squad, the versatile Wolves player made his competitive debut back in March and Macedonia and has played at both right back and central midfield without any difficulty. In Skopje, though, he was back on the bench, and will find a real breakthrough harder than ever to make.

Keiren Westwood

DID well against Macedonia in March but has not had the best of club seasons and could do with engineering a move, ideally to a team in the Premier League. For the moment, though, he remains ahead of David Forde and the chasing pack but well behind a fit Shay Given in the race for the goalkeeper’s jersey.