Slovakia irked by claims of injury to Hamsik

SOCCER:VLADIMIR WEISS can't be accused of approaching tonight's qualifier with the wrong attitude. The monosyllabic Slovakian manager was giving very little away at yesterday's press conference, which is the approach he'll be expecting from his side.

But, if his squad news is anything to go by, then he can be accused of not doing all of his homework. Because Giovanni Trapattoni, it seems, knows more about the Slovakian team than Weiss does.

When it was put to Weiss that the Ireland manager had claimed star player Marek Hamsik was receiving pain-killing injections to line out for Napoli against Palermo last week, the Slovakian responded with surprise. And some scorn.

“You clearly have more info from Italy than I do . . . if Marek says he is okay after training, he will play.”

It would be a big surprise if the manager did not risk the playmaker in his starting XI because Slovakia badly need that creativity.

Although Weiss’s side are level on points with Ireland, they’ve only scored six goals in six games – with their last two performances bringing separate 1-0 wins over Andorra. It’s a stat that keeps them third in the group. And, against an Irish side that hasn’t conceded in five games, it’s also particularly worrying.

“It will be very hard but I do believe there are goals there,” Weiss said. “Ireland are very strong defensively with players like Richard Dunne and Shay Given. They haven’t conceded many but I believe we’ll manage.”

The exact definition of “managing” depends on what Weiss wants from the game. He did say “a win would represent a successful trip” but defender Martin Skrtel did admit the team would be happy with a draw. “Of course, we want to win every game. But I think if we get a draw, that would be fine. I don’t think it’s a must-win game.”

Weiss certainly doesn’t believe the group will be decided this week, regardless of the results tonight and on Tuesday. “I don’t think so. It’s a very important game. It will say a lot. But all three teams have the same chance at the moment.”

And, having reacted with irritation to the news from Trapattoni’s Italian spies, Weiss then doubted other information put out by the Ireland manager – mainly about whether Shane Long would start ahead of Kevin Doyle. “We’ll see tomorrow what happens with the line-up. I had this information about Doyle before. But if it’s (Robbie) Keane or Long on the pitch, that’s his decision. Long is a good player in excellent form so he’ll probably do alright.”

There were some doubts about the fitness of goalkeeper Jan Mucha too. Although the goalkeeper saved Keane’s penalty in October, the Everton substitute goalkeeper didn’t quite enjoy his last trip to Dublin – with Mucha in goals, Everton could only draw 1-1 with Bohemians a few weeks ago.

He didn’t quite say it, but it seems Weiss would happily take such a scoreline tonight.