READING STRIKER Kevin Doyle will have a better idea of what chance he has of being fit for the World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria on June 6th after he has an MRI scan today on the Achilles injury he picked up in Saturday's English League Championship play-off game against Burnley.
The 25-year-old limped out of the game after 40 minutes following what seemed an innocuous airborne attempt to win a header. The player simply seemed to land badly and, though he attempted to continue in the game, it became apparent within a couple of minutes that he could not.
Doyle is definitely out of the second leg of the play-off tomorrow and is a major doubt for the trip to Sofia. He was said to be struggling to walk yesterday and if the injury is serious his recovery period could stretch well into the summer.
Today's scan should provide a much better of idea of whether Giovanni Trapattoni is in a position to include the Wexfordman when he names his squad for that qualifier and the friendly game against Nigeria in London on May 29th. The player was said to be less than optimistic about his prospects yesterday morning.
Doyle's absence would be a major blow to Trapattoni and the team's prospects of maintaining their challenge at the top of their qualification group with another strong away performance. The striker scored the most recent of his six international goals in the win over Georgia in Germany last September but he has become an increasingly important figure for Ireland under Trappatoni with his strength in the air a key asset, not least when there is a need to relieve pressure at the back.
If he misses out then Trapattoni will at least take some satisfaction with the way Caleb Folan came through the game in Bari after replacing Andy Keogh just 22 minutes in. The Italian, though, is likely to give Doyle every chance to recover from the Achilles problem before ruling him out.
Reading were a little unfortunate to lose to Burnley in the English League Championship semi-final play-off on Saturday with Graham Alexander's penalty six minutes from time giving Owen Coyle's men the advantage ahead of the return leg despite Reading having dominated for long spells.
Before being replaced by Dave Kitson after 40 minutes, Doyle, who was partnered in attack by Shane Long, came close to scoring with a follow-up shot that was cleared off the line.
Former Ireland under-21 international, Jay Tabb, also forced a spectacular save from Burnley goalkeeper Brian Jensen.
Noel Hunt missed the game because of a broken bone in his foot while his brother, Stephen, was an unused substitute.
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