Trap hands Sammon his debut

Former UCD striker Conor Sammon will make his debut for the Republic of Ireland when they host Poland at the Aviva Stadium on Wednesday, with manager Giovanni Trapattoni also promising game time for fellow newcomers Jeff Hendrick and Richard Keogh.

Derby attacker Sammon will line-up alongside West Brom’s Shane Long in the team’s first game of the year, which may not be capturing the imagination of the locals but is certain to attract many Polish people settled on these shores – the FAI are expecting around 40,000 to attend the game.

In total, there are four former League of Ireland players on the starting sheet, with Greg Cunningham also associated with First Division side Mervue United.

With six weeks to go before the decisive qualifiers with Sweden and Austria, tomorrow’s tie represents Trap’s only chance to tinker with the side, and although some key names are absent through injury, there is an opportunity for others to stake a claim for inclusion in Stockholm on March 22.

“The new players have shown us some technical quality,” Trap said of the new faces in his pre-match press conference this afternoon, reserving a lost-in-translation bit of praise for Sammon: “Usually these big players, they are not so generally agile.”

Indeed the manager seemed quite keen on the partnership of Long and Sammon - “they will open the game” – inferring that the latter will be used, similar to Caleb Folan earlier in his reign as boss, as a targetman.

Elsewhere, Wes Hoolahan will get some game time, but, again, he will start on the bench. That’s not to say the future is bleak for the former Shels man, with Trap indicating he still sees a potential relationship between Sammon and the Norwich midfielder developing. The 73-year-old added: “This one yes, this one is a possibility. Because they are technical, both technical. They can do this because I saw many times they can do this.”

Hoolahan might be referred to as Wessi by supporters of his club, but Trap predictably added: “We have no Messi. We have no Ronaldo. We have never had these players.” But who is the closest in the manager’s opinion? “Robbie Brady is the best creative player,” but “it is not enough”.

The big story prior to the press conference was Ian Harte’s Twitter outburst in which he labelled Trapattoni a “clown”, but the manager was quick to point out that  the reason behind Harte’s non-selection is simply because he has plenty of players who can play in the same position as the Reading full-back. “We have O’Shea, Cunningham, Ward who can play where Harte plays.”

Meanwhile John O’Shea, who will captain the Boys in Green tomorrow evening, was also confident Sammon can adapt to the international setup quickly. “He will offer a threat in behind and hopefully the Polish defence will have a tough time. Height wise Conor would have that advantage.”

As expected, Derry City keeper David Forde will start in place of Keiren Westwood in goal. On Sunday, Trapattoni declared that Forde would be given a chance because he is playing regularly at Millwall, unlike Westwood who, behind Simon Mignolet in the pecking order at the Stadium of Light, hasn’t been featuring for his club.

O’Shea, his fellow Black Cat, believes it’s a tough situation and revealed the keeper tried to earn a move away from Sunderland in last month’s transfer window.

He said: “Keiren has been training very well, training very hard at Sunderland, but Simon (Mignolet) has been doing excellently as well, so it’s a tough situation he has found himself in.

“He was trying to sort a few things out in January and nothing was able to come of it, so he will have to train and do his stuff again as he has always done. He’s a fantastic professional and trained brilliantly over the last couple of days here as well.

“It’s a good situation for managers to have top quality keepers, but it’s frustrating for the individual himself.

On Forde, meanwhile, the skipper added: “It’s a fantastic opportunity for David. He’s very experienced and he will do very well.”

Aston Villa’s Ciarán Clark will accompany O’Shea in the heart of defence, flanked by Paul McShane and Cunningham. With Keith Andrews out injured, James McCarthy and Glenn Whelan will operate the engine room and Robbie Brady and James McClean will occupy the flanks in what will be a straight-forward 442.

Ireland XI to play Poland: David Forde; Paul McShane, John O’Shea, Ciarán Clark, Greg Cunningham; Robbie Brady, James McCarthy, Glenn Whelan, James McClean; Shane Long, Conor Sammon.