Soccer: West Brom striker Simon Cox has been chosen to replace injured captain Robbie Keane for the Republic of Ireland's final Euro 2012 qualifier against Armenia on Tuesday.

It was no surprise this afternoon to learn Keane had been left out of the team to face Armenia after he spent part of yesterday evening treating patrons of Gibney’s in Malahide to his rendition of Garth Brooks’s ‘When Tomorrow Never Comes’.

It was, perhaps, an apt song choice for the Republic of Ireland captain, whose absence is explained by his failure to recover from a gluteal muscle strain aggravated in the 2-0 win over Andorra rather than some sort of brazen display of disrespect towards the Irish jersey as suggested by some today.

Cox gets the nod ahead of his clubmate Shane Long and will play up front with Kevin Doyle in one of three changes to the side that took to the field in Andorra last Friday. Stephen Ward’s yellow card in the Pyrenees and his subsequent suspension sees Stephen Kelly come in at left-back, while John O’Shea's remains on the right.

The third and undoubtedly most welcome change is the return of Richard Dunne from suspension to partner Seán St Ledger in defence. Darren O'Dea makes way for the Dubliner and Shay Given will captain the side in the absence of the crooning skipper, who may, it was suggested by the manager today, miss the play-offs in November should Ireland avoid defeat against the form team of the group at the Aviva Stadium tomorrow.

“He had scan yesterday and there was a lot of blood in the muscle," said the Italian. "We hope that in three to four weeks he could be fit for the play-offs if we qualify.”

The inclusion of Cox will be disappointing for Long, who has been keeping the former out of the Baggies side all season and has scored three compared his teammate's zero, but it is hardly a surprise given the manager's propensity to stick with his system. Cox may have an inferior strike rate at club level but he is much more similar to Keane in his style of play, while the argument could be made that Long is too similar to Doyle.

In any case, Trapattoni in part justified the decision today by suggesting Long would be sprung from the bench when the opposition is tired and his pace is likely to pose more of a threat to their defence.

“Tomorrow, you will see the game and you can decide whether I was right but I can’t ask Doyle to come back and help. I can ask Cox. He’s not Keane but he’s a little bit like him," said the manager.

On his decision to resist shifting O’Shea to left back, the Italian said he was reluctant to change too much and expressed trust in McGeady’s ability to cover Kelly from the left wing.

“I didn’t want to change it at the moment but I can change it during the game. Also we have McGeady on the left. It’s better to not to change more than one.”

They key to getting a result tomorrow, he said, was to "avoid making mistakes".

"That’s not easy but this is an opportunity for us to show our maturity and how much we have improved over the last few years."

He added: “I’m condfident. I always said at the beginning of the campaign that Armenia are a little less strong than Slovakia, now I see they are strong and they have scored a lot of goals but I a have confidence in our team.

“The players have played some very good football and we can continue in this way."

Rep of Ireland (v Armenia):Given; O'Shea, Dunne, St Ledger, Kelly; Duff, Whelan, Andrews, McGeady; Cox, Doyle.