Montenegro boss Zoran Filipovic has backed the Republic of Ireland to emerge from the play-offs to reach the World Cup finals in South Africa.

AFTER the staggering climax of Ireland versus Italy, the prolonged anti-climax of Ireland versus Montenegro.

Republic of Ireland 0 Montenegro 0

Shay Given and Kevin Kilbane have each been handed their 100th senior international caps as the Republic of Ireland bring their World Cup Group Eight qualifying campaign to a close against Montenegro tonight.

Shay Given has no intention of sampling the bitter taste of World Cup play-off defeat a second time.

AFTER experiencing Heaven and Hell in Croke Park on Saturday, Irish football now finds itself in Limbo. (Ask your granddad).

Giovanni Trapattoni confirmed this afternoon that he would wait until later this evening to name his starting 11 for the Republic of Ireland’s final World Cup qualifier against Montenegro tomorrow.

The Republic of Ireland management team will make a final decision on the starting line-up for tomorrow night's meeting with Montenegro after training this morning.

GIOVANNI TRAPATTONI is still weighing up the risks of fielding Irish players on yellow cards in tomorrow evening’s final Group 8 game against Montenegro.

FOR A guy who isn’t even getting his game, you’d have to say that Andy Reid is playing a blinder for Ireland.

Sunderland midfielder Andy Reid has not given up on his dream of playing for the Republic of Ireland once again.

The Republic of Ireland squad is due to train in Malahide again today ahead of Saturday's World Cup qualifier against Italy.

IT isn’t by choice Martin Rowlands has found his name inextricably linked to that of Andy Reid’s this week but that is exactly the situation in which the QPR midfielder finds himself just now.

GIOVANNI TRAPATTONI has cited the primacy of his established system as the reason why he opted to call QPR’s Martin Rowlands into the Irish squad as a replacement for the injured Darron Gibson and, once again, ignored the increasingly persuasive claims of Sunderland’s Andy Reid.

QPR’s Martin Rowlands has been called into the Irish squad as Giovanni Trapattoni continues to sweat on a number of players who are nursing injuries in the run-up to Saturday’s big game against Italy at Croke Park.

Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole returned from his long-term knee injury to help defeat QPR and send the Barclays Premier League leaders into the fourth round of the Carling Cup.

STEVE FINNAN is an injury worry for Ireland’s World Cup qualifier with Cyprus at Croke Park next month after the new Espanyol recruit suffered a thigh strain on Wednesday — ruling him out for at least three weeks.

Republic of Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni will run the rule over some of his promising youngsters in the run-up to next month's World Cup qualifier against Cyprus.

QPR enhanced their promotion credentials as Martin Rowlands first-half free-kick earned Iain Dowie’s 10-men all three points against Norwich at Carrow Road last night.

IF GIOVANNI Trapattoni could just bottle Damien Delaney’s enthusiasm he’d be at least halfway to qualifying the Republic of Ireland for the next World Cup.

Teenager Sean Scannell admits he has to pinch himself as he waits in hope for a senior international debut.

BACK from their warm weather camp in Portugal and straight into what passes for summer in Dublin, the Irish squad trained in cold, overcast conditions in Malahide last evening.

Robbie Keane and Richard Dunne could go straight into the Republic of Ireland side for Saturday night’s friendly clash with Serbia.

Giovanni Trapattoni has announced his squad for the forthcoming training in Portugal and matches against Serbia and Columbia.

Tony Pulis steered his Stoke side to a 0-0 draw against Leicester which secured the Potters promotion to the Barclays Premier League and relegated the Foxes to Coca-Cola League One.

QPR 0 West Brom 2

CHELSEA are English football’s answer to a cold shower.

Daryl Murphy ensured Sunderland’s push for automatic promotion remained on track with an 89th-minute equaliser against promotion rivals Stoke at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland moved to third in the Coca-Cola Championship table after claiming the points in an unexpectedly tight match at Barnsley.

Southend boosted their hopes of Coca-Cola Championship survival and completed a miserable week for QPR with a 5-0 rout at Roots Hall.

DARYL MURPHY and Grant Leadbitter fired Sunderland to a deserved win over QPR as Roy Keane’s side continued their steady rise up the Coca-Cola Championship table.

Dave Jones thought he had Manchester United striker Alan Smith in the bag before the player decided he was staying put at Old Trafford.

Sunderland’s miserable start in the Coca-Cola Championship continued as they crashed to a 3-2 defeat against Plymouth at the Stadium of Light today.

Sheffield Wednesday manager Paul Sturrock hopes his side can follow the Queens Park Rangers formula as they target a first Coca-Cola Championship win tomorrow.

Coca-Cola Championship leaders Wigan crashed out of the Carling Cup tonight with a 1-0 defeat at Grimsby.

Millwall ended Leicester’s unbeaten start in the Coca-Cola Championship with a 2-0 win at The Den today.

Irish captain Kenny Cunningham admits he has been impressed by the Republic of Ireland’s current crop of youngsters.

Brian Kerr makes no excuses for giving some of the Republic of Ireland’s squad players a taste of senior international football in the Unity Cup.

Brian Kerr believes it might take up to three years before the Republic of Ireland get the benefits of playing in the Unity Cup.

Nigeria 3 Rep of Ireland 0

Shay Given has told the Republic of Ireland’s young hopefuls that the next fortnight is their chance to play their way into manager Brian Kerr’s World Cup qualifying plans.

Mark Gallagher

Celtic teenager Aiden McGeady has been included in the Republic of Ireland squad for their forthcoming end-of-season friendlies against European and African opponents.