LIAM MACKEY: Trap looking after number one

On the face of it, Giovanni Trapattoni’s latest squad seems a pretty clear case of out with the old, in with the new, Shay Given’s absence in stark contrast to the presence of a clutch of new faces in the panel for next month’s friendly against Poland.

Inevitably, the manager’s apparently lukewarm response to Given’s desire to come out of retirement has been interpreted in some quarters as a snub yet, as is so often the case with the Italian, there was a studied ambiguity to his comments about the veteran keeper which suggested the door is still on the latch rather than slammed shut.

While it’s true Trapattoni answered in the negative when asked directly if Given would reclaim the number one slot for the World Cup qualifiers in March, it would hardly have sent out the appropriate signal to Keiren Westwood, in particular, had the manager given any other reply.