Soccer: Republic of Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni has thrown Manchester United midfielder Darron Gibson into the heart of his midfield for tomorrow night's World Cup qualifier against Cyprus at Croke Park.
The Italian spoke to the 20-year-old when the final training session ended in Malahide to assess his confidence ahead of such an important game. Satisfied with what he saw Gibson will now partner Glenn Whelan in a new-look central midfield combination.
It will be Gibson's third senior international appearance six days after starring for the Republic of Ireland XI in a 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest.
The new midfield pairing will occupy the all-important engine room with just seven senior caps between them and with neither of them regulars in their club sides it represents a certain risk.
Trapattoni's decision means Sunderland's Liam Miller missed out on the role vacated by the injured Steven Reid.
Gibson put himself in the frame with a strong individual display for the B squad against Nottingham Forest last Thursday evening, and was one of five men elevated to the senior party the following day.
He has made a single senior appearance for United this season, as a substitute in the 3-1 Carling Cup third round victory over Middlesbrough last month, but has demonstrated the qualities for which Trapattoni is looking in central midfield.
Perhaps significantly, he also stands at six feet in height, some four inches taller than Miller and a further inch above forgotten man Andy Reid.
Trapattoni said: "At the moment, we are missing Steven Reid and his physical aspect. Also, we need big players.
"I want to try him out because he could be somebody who works very, very well in midfield also in the future."
"Robbie (Keane) is not big, but springs well, and (Kevin) Doyle also. But (Aiden) McGeady is little, (Damien) Duff is little.
"In international football, teams score goals from high balls.
"The first reason is his (Gibson's) height, the second is he plays with confidence.
"He doesn't play very often, but he plays for Manchester United, and Manchester United are a very important team.
"He is confident on the ball. He plays the easy ball and he looks before the ball comes. For me, that is a good quality.
"But we also have Miller, who played against Colombia and has played in other games and played well. I have that possibility."
Trapattoni's other selection headache was at right-back, where Steve Finnan is also missing through injury.
Sunderland's Paul McShane, currently on loan at Hull, will be drafted into the back four, but amid concerns over the pace and power of Cyprus left-winger Efstathios Aloneftis, he could partner Richard Dunne in the middle with John O'Shea moving to full-back.
Trapattoni said: "McShane is a stopper, but on the left, they have Aloneftis, and he is one of the most dangerous players in their team.
"I can start with him or I can start with John. In the last game, John and Dunne played very well in the middle, but Aloneftis is very, very dangerous and maybe he needs particular attention."
Damien Duff also returns to the international set up and will feature in his first game of the World Cup qualifying campaign since being sidelined with injury.
Ireland head into the game second in Group Eight after their win over Georgia and a 0-0 draw in Montenegro, while Cyprus have only a point to show for their efforts following world champions Italy's visit to Larnaca and their weekend trip to Tbilisi.
However, Trapattoni has insisted nobody should get carried away by what has happened in the recent past to a side who beat Ireland 5-2 in Nicosia and left Dublin with a point in the last European Championship qualfication campaign.
He said: "We have a difficult situation for this game psychologically because the fans think after this good beginning, the two qualifiers, that the game is easy.
"Cyprus are a strong team. They are a good team with good players, fast players.
"We will be in a difficult situation psychologically because we lost 2-5.
"But we are another team at the moment - the same players, but we believe in what we are doing.
"We are convinced about what we are doing and I am sure we are not afraid of the situation."
Republic of Ireland team(v Cyprus)
Shay Given, Richard Dunne, Kevin Kilbane, John O'Shea, Paul McShane, Aiden McGeady, Damien Duff, Glenn Whelan, Darron Gibson, Robbie Keane, Kevin Doyle.
