Soccer:Giovanni Trapattoni has trimmed his squad to face Croatia in an international friendly next week by seven players as a result of injuries and club commitments, while Aston Villa's Ciaran Clark has also been omitted to allow the manager a chance to assess Stephen Ward at left fullback.
The latter has impressed in his three caps so far, since his debut against Northern Ireland in the Carling Nations Cup in May.
Since being named in a 32-man squad last month, new Sunderland signing John O’Shea has picked up a hamstring injury and will not travel back to Dublin for the August 10th game at the Aviva Stadium.
Spartak Moscow winger Aiden McGeady and defenders Paul Mc Shane and Kevin Foley are also unfit to travel, while Liam Lawrence and Kevin Kilbane both have club commitments with Portsmouth and Derby County respectively.
Kilbane moved from Huddersfield to the Rams on a six-month loan deal today and will make his debut in the opening game of the season against Birmingham City at Pride Park on Saturday, when Portsmouth begin their campaign at Middlesbrough.
Retained in the squad are James McCarthy, Darron Gibson and Marc Wilson, who all ran afoul of the manager for excusing themselves from the Carling Nations Cup. Simon Cox is named among five strikers, alongside captain Robbie Keane, Kevin Doyle, Shane Long and Jonathan Walters of Stoke City.
“I intend to use the game against Croatia at Aviva Stadium next week to have the confirmation of a few options ahead of our September matches against Slovakia and Russia,” Trapattoni said today.
“Confirmation” suggests Trapttoni already has a fair idea of who will take to the pitch against Slovakia and Russia in the two crucial Euro 2012 qualifiers next month, which doesn’t bode well for Clark.
The former England under-20 captain appears to have been overtaken by Ward after a promising debut against Wales in February and a friendly appearance in the 3-2 defeat to Uruguay in March.
Ward, though, still needs to convince the manager he is an able replacement for Kilbane, who is likely to return to the squad ahead of the visit of Slovakia on September 2nd and the trip to Moscow to face Russia on the 6th.
Republic of Ireland squad (v Croatia)
Goalkeepers:Shay Given, Keiren Westwood, David Forde.
Defenders:Seamus Coleman, Stephen Kelly, Stephen Ward, Richard Dunne, Seán St. Ledger, Darren O'Dea, Damien Delaney.
Midfielders:Glenn Whelan, Darron Gibson, Keith Andrews, Keith Fahey, Andy Keogh, Damien Duff, Stephen Hunt, James McCarthy, Keith Treacy, Marc Wilson.
Strikers:Robbie Keane, Kevin Doyle, Jon Walters, Shane Long, Simon Cox.
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