Injury forced Stokes out, says father

News:John Stokes, father of and advisor to Anthony, the Sunderland player who failed to report for duty with the Republic of Ireland under-21 squad ahead of yesterday's match away to Germany, has insisted that injury forced his son's withdrawal from the squad.

He also suggested a misunderstanding must explain why the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) were not informed.

Under-21 manager Don Givens was furious when the 19-year-old Dubliner failed to appear at London City airport on Monday, where the British-based members of the squad were to gather before flying to Nuremberg.

Givens phoned Stokes, only to discover he was in Dublin, and not in Sunderland receiving treatment for his injury. The player told Givens "the boss (Roy Keane) told me twice he'd sort it" once it was decided he would have to withdraw.

Givens insisted, however, that Sunderland had informed the FAI only of Paul McShane's withdrawal from the senior squad.

John Stokes, when contacted by The Irish Times, accused Givens of being "harsh" on his son, and rejected the suggestion he had simply failed to turn up.

"There's a bit of history between Don and Anthony, he brought him in for the last couple of games and then didn't play him, he doesn't seem to rate him at all," he said. "He's entitled to his opinion, but looking at the papers all I'm reading are reports that Anthony has gone Awol, and that's not true at all. I'm a bit annoyed that Don would say that.

"I can guarantee that if Anthony was fit he'd have been in Germany now. He had a niggling injury going in to the game on Saturday (Sunderland's defeat at Wigan) and at half-time both Anthony and the manager (Roy Keane) agreed he wouldn't continue. That also ruled him out of the under-21 game.

"My understanding was that it was down to the club to inform the FAI, but there does seem to have been a misunderstanding. Either that or Don has jumped the gun. I'm not looking to have a swipe at Don, he's entitled to his opinion, but I think he's being a bit harsh on Anthony.

"Despite all that, Anthony has proved that he wants to play for Ireland. When he was selected to go to the United States at the start of the summer people advised him not to play in the under-19 game immediately beforehand, but he wanted to and he played in two before heading on to the States."

Stokes explained that his son, like McShane, had his club's permission to return to Ireland for one night, "to see his family", but had returned to Sunderland for treatment on what is believed to be a groin injury.

Givens declined to comment on Stokes's remarks, but when asked to clarify whose responsibility it was to inform the FAI of a player's withdrawal, the player or his club, he said: "It is probably the duty of the club, but I've always said to players in the squad to let me know personally when there's a problem. I would expect the majority of players to let me know without having to ask."

Yesterday, a Sunderland spokesman said Keane was away for a few days so the club would be unable to comment on the dispute until his return.

Keane had lashed out at unspecified players after Saturday's dismal display at Wigan, the speculation being that Stokes and Dwight Yorke, who were taken off at half-time, were the main targets of his ire. John Stokes, however, challenged that speculation by insisting his son was injured.