Walters leads line in absence of Keane

Soccer:Jon Walters was today handed a lone striking role against World Cup semi-finalists Germany after Republic of Ireland skipper Robbie Keane was ruled out with an Achilles injury.

The Stoke frontman will line-up ahead of a three-man midfield of Keith Andrews, James McCarthy and Keith Fahey with Aiden McGeady and Simon Cox providing the width.

Seamus Coleman has got the nod at right back with John O’Shea, who will captain the side in Keane’s absence, moving inside to partner Darren O’Dea and Stephen Ward starting on the left.

Keane, who is understood to have aggravated a long-standing injury in a training ground challenge with defender Paul McShane earlier this week, did not train yesterday morning either, but assistant manager Marco Tardelli was confident he would be able to play.

However, that possibility evaporated this morning, leaving manager Giovanni Trapattoni to draw up another plan. The Italian had been expected to field the LA Galaxy forward, who has 54 senior international goals to his name, as the lone striker against the Germans.

Keane, whose last-gasp strike in Ibaraki 10 years ago secured a famous 1-1 World Cup draw with the Germans, was in line to win his 122nd cap against Joachim Loew’s men.

His absence means Trapattoni will be without all four of the men who have formed the backbone of his squad for the last four and a half years with Shay Given and Damien Duff having retired from international football and Richard Dunne still working his way back to fitness.

It is the first competitive game Keane has missed since the 2-1 Euro 2012 qualifier victory over Armenia in Dublin in October last year after emerging from a 2-0 win in Andorra with an adductor muscle injury.

It felt like something of a watershed moment as Trapattoni announced his team, which did not include the names of any of the quartet of senior men who have been the backbone of Ireland’s team for over a decade.

There could be a significant shift too in terms of system with the manager initially naming his line-up for the first time in a competitive game in a 4-3-3 formation.

But he then muddied the waters, saying: “I have not changed the system. I said we can play 4-4-2 or 4-3-3. We have to see what happens in the game.

“We can change, 4-4-2 or 4-3-3. I have to be sure that the system is available and that I can change immediately if I need to.

“I can’t wait until we concede a goal. After, it is very difficult. I have to put out a team that can change after 30 minutes if necessary.”

The sensible money is on Trapattoni starting with 4-3-3 after he and assistant Marco Tardelli have spent the last few days talking about the possibility of using a third central midfielder to man-mark Mesut Ozil.

But asked if he would try to do that, he said: “I think it’s impossible. I was a player and I marked famous players

Pele, Eusebio, Johan Cruyff

but there are players it is impossible to mark.

“Ozil is a player who is very difficult to mark.”

Republic of Ireland (v Germany):Westwood; Coleman, O'Shea, O'Dea, Ward; McGeady, Andrews, McCarthy, Fahey, Cox; Walters.