Sport

Ireland likely to have to wait on Given

SOCCER: FAI OFFICIALS are likely to make contact with Newcastle United over the coming days in order to clarify whether Shay…

EMMET MALONE Soccer Correspondent
Wed Apr 16 2008 - 01:00

SOCCER:FAI OFFICIALS are likely to make contact with Newcastle United over the coming days in order to clarify whether Shay Given will be available to travel to Portugal with the Irish squad in the wake of confirmation from Kevin Keegan yesterday that the goalkeeper will not play for the club again this season.

Given, who had a groin operation in the middle of last month, has been dogged by injury problems for the last year and a half and Keegan has expressed a preference for allowing the goalkeeper to recover his fitness free from pressure so as to give him the best chance possible of rediscovering his best form after the summer.

In the circumstances it now seems entirely out of the question that Given would play for Ireland against either Serbia or Colombia towards the end of next month and he will probably pull out of the preceding trip as well.

However Keegan suggested yesterday that he feels the Donegalman would benefit from getting back into training at United before the end of the season and it remains to be seen whether he would also feel that a limited involvement in the Irish training camp would do the player some good.

READ MORE

"I think he'll be fit by the end of the season," said Keegan, "and he'll train with us for maybe the last week or 10 days but there's no sense for him to play a match. He just needs to know by the end of the season that he's fit, ready to go away and come back for pre-season with all his problems behind him. I think that for him that would be a massive relief."

Given was one of six goalkeepers named in a preliminary squad of 40 last week for the trip to Portugal where the Irish are expected to play a couple of low-key friendlies against local opposition. The final travelling party will consist of 28 players with Giovanni Trapattoni expected to reveal who has made the cut within a couple of days of officially taking up his new job at the start of next month.

The Italian will presumably be disappointed in the event that Given has to be left behind although, like Keegan, he is likely to be happy to wait the additional few months for the goalkeeper's return if it means having him back to his best for the start of the World Cup campaign.