Doyle on stand-by as Trap names squad

The Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni has today (Saturday, March 16) finalised his 23-man squad for the crucial World Cup qualifiers away to Sweden next Friday followed by the home date with Austria.

The main talking point is likely to be the omission of striker Kevin Doyle, who scored today in Wolves’ crucial Championship win over Bristol City, from the squad. Doyle is placed on the standby list alongside five others as recent debutant Conor Sammon keeps his place in Trapattoni's selection.

Sammon, with seven Championship goals to his credit this season, received mixed reviews for his performance in the friendly win over Poland in February yet has obviously jumped ahead of Doyle, who made his International debut against group rivals Sweden seven years ago this month, in the manager’s eyes.

With both Aiden McGeady and Paul McShane ruled out through injury, there are notable places in the squad for Reading’s Stephen Kelly, Derby County midfielder Jeff Hendrick, and Millwall’s Andy Keogh.
 

Speaking today, Trapattoni said, ‘As a manager, I am sometimes faced with some very tough decisions, but I feel that the squad I have chosen will get us the results we need from these two qualifiers. I have not made these choices lightly, and will continue to monitor each player’s progress ahead of our next challenges in May and June.’
 

The Republic of Ireland squad will assemble for training in Malahide tomorrow.
 

Tickets for the Austria game are now on sale from www.ticketmaster.ie starting at €10 for children and €35 for adults. Family tickets are also available. See www.fai.ie for details.

Squad
1.   David Forde                                  Millwall FC
2.   Keiren Westwood                          Sunderland AFC
3.   Darren Randolph                         Motherwell FC
4.   John O’Shea                                 Sunderland AFC
5.   Sean St. Ledger                            Leicester City FC
6.   Ciaran Clark                                  Aston Villa FC
7.   Marc Wilson                                  Stoke City FC
8.   Seamus Coleman                       Everton FC
9.   Stephen Kelly                                Reading FC
10.   Darren O’Dea                             Toronto FC
11.   Glenn Whelan                             Stoke City FC
12.   James McCarthy                        Wigan Athletic FC
13.   Paul Green                                  Leeds United FC
14.   Wes Hoolahan                            Norwich City FC
15.   Jeff Hendrick                              Derby County FC
16.   James McClean                         Sunderland AFC                 
17.   Andy Keogh                                Millwall FC
18.   Robbie Brady                              Hull City FC
19.   Robbie Keane                             LA Galaxy
20.   Shane Long                                 West Bromwich Albion FC
21.   Conor Sammon                          Derby County FC
22.   Jon Walters                                 Stoke City FC
23.   Simon Cox                                  Nottingham Forest FC

In addition, the following players have been placed on standby with their clubs:
1.            Kevin Doyle
2.            Stephen Ward
3.            Joey O’Brien
4.            Alex Pearce
5.            Stephen Henderson
6.            David Meyler