Trapattoni announces Ireland squad for Russia and Slovakia games
Giovanni Trapattoni flew into Dublin today to announce his 26-man provisional squad for the Republic of Ireland’s upcoming UEFA 2012 Qualifying Group B games against Russia and Slovakia.
Four players who missed out on the opening two games due to injury have returned to the squad. Damien Duff of Fulham and Keith Treacy of Preston have been performing well this season, and Darren O’Dea has impressed since his loan move to Ipswich. However, the other recalled player, Keith Andrews is still recovering, and has yet to feature for Blackburn. He’s still injured, but hopefully he can return to full fitness before the home game against Russia on October
At the press conference, Trapattoni said “We go into these qualifiers with six points from six in the opening games of the campaign in September. We performed well against Armenia and Andorra and we will build on these good results in our next games against Russia and Slovakia. These teams are the top seeds in the group and they will be looking to take three points from us to kick-start their Euro campaigns. But we have prepared well and will not make it easy for them as we continue to lay the foundations to qualify for the European Championship finals.”
Asked about Shay Given’s uphill struggle for the number 1 jersey at Manchester City, Trapattoni reaffirmed the keeper’s starting spot for Ireland: “I’m not worried about Given. I spoke to him after the Armenia and Andorra games, and he is confident about the future. I’m confident about him, Shay is Shay. I’m sure he trains hard. It is the same with Lawrence and Kilbane. Our team is like that. The players don’t always play for their clubs but we don’t look for excuses.”
26 Man Provisional Squad
Goalkeepers: Shay Given (Manchester City), Kieren Westwood (Coventry), Joe Murphy (Scunthorpe)
Defenders: John O’Shea (Manchester United), Richard Dunne (Aston Villa), Sean St. Ledger (Preston), Greg Cunningham (Manchester City), Kevin Foley (Wolves), Stephen Kelly (Fulham), Paul McShane (Hull), Darren O’Dea (Ipswich), Kevin Kilbane (Hull)
Midfielders: Keith Andrews (Blackburn), Glenn Whelan (Stoke), Darron Gibson (Manchester United), Paul Green (Derby), Liam Lawrence (Portsmouth), Aiden McGeady (Spartak Moscow), Andy Keogh (Cardiff), Damien Duff (Fulham), Keith Fahey (Birmingham), Keith Treacy (Preston)
Strikers: Robbie Keane (Tottenham), Kevin Doyle (Wolves), Shane Long (Reading), Cillian Sheridan (CSKA Sofia)
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