Giovanni Trapattoni names Republic of Ireland Squad
Damien Duff, Keith Andrews, Keith Tracey and Darren O’ Dea have all been recalled by Irish manager Giovanni Trapattoni’s 26 man squad. The four players missed the first round of qualifiers after all four picked up injuries prior to the games.
Damien Duff and Keith Andrews were both likely to start in the matches against Armenia and Andorra. Duff will most likely take the position of Aiden McGeady who’s final ball and end product has often been questioned.
Andrews would be considered a key player for the Republic of Ireland having formed a solid partnership with Glenn Whelan in midfield. He is expected to reclaim his central midfield role at the expense of the inexperienced Paul Green.
Tracey and O’Dea will be used as fringe players and may be brought on as substitutes, but Trapattoni will be grateful to welcome all four players back into the squad.
The Republic started their campaign well despite the injured Duff and Andrews being absent. They picked up an important 1-0 away win against Armenia thanks to a well placed Keith Fahey strike. Ireland were less than convincing against Andorra, who play on
a part time basis. The Republic won the match 3-1 with Kevin Kilbane, Kevin Doyle and Robbie Keane scoring the goals, but the performance will be a cause of concern for Trapattoni as they expected to score more goals and concede none. Ireland top the group
on goal difference from Slovakia with Russia in third.
Cillian Sheridan has kept his place in the squad, but there were no other surprises among Trapattoni’s selection. The manager was unlikely to experiment with two crucial qualifying games coming up in October. Ireland will play Russia on the 8th
of October at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin before they travel to play Slovakia in Zililina four days later.
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