Swiss coach to drop senior players

SWITZERLAND coach Koebi Kuhn has said he is prepared to drop two of the country’s most senior players in a bid to qualify for next year’s European Championship.

Central defender Stephane Henchoz and veteran striker Stephane Chapuisat were heavily criticised by Swiss media after Wednesday's 4-1 defeat by Group 10 rivals Russia in Moscow.

Kuhn has responded by saying he is not afraid of removing the experienced pair from his starting line-up for the crunch final group match with Ireland in Basel on October 11.

"There will be changes in the team," Kuhn said yesterday.

"Henchoz and Chapuisat are not untouchable.

"In attack I would have gladly play an alternative to Chapuisat. Naturally, [Marco] Streller is in my thinking," he added of FC Basel's talented 22-year-old forward.

The result in Moscow left Switzerland top of Group 10 on 12 points from seven games with Russia who play Georgia next month and Ireland a point adrift.

But defeat left the prospect of Switzerland missing out on even a playoff place should they lose to Ireland next month, and Russia avoid losing to Georgia in Moscow.

Republic of Ireland striker Alan Lee has undergone a cartilage operation that will rule him out for the rest of the month making him a big doubt for October's must-win game against the Swiss.

Lee picked up the knee injury in training with Ireland last Sunday, and after a scan on Monday revealed cartilage damage, he was withdrawn from the squad for Tuesday's friendly clash with Turkey and returned to Cardiff where the decision was taken to send him for the operation.

The recuperation time for the injury is expected to be three weeks, though any complications may keep him out for longer which would probably rule him out of contention for a place in Brian Kerr's squad for the crucial clash on October 11.

Meanwhile Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson has laughed off suggestions of his impending resignation that have been circulating the media.

The manager was made aware of the stories suggesting that he was set to quit, and made a joke of them on MUTV in an interview which was broadcast last night.

"Yeah, I heard about that this morning. I'd better not tell my wife!" he laughed.

"But no, there's nothing like that going on. I'm enjoying it too much here.

"Last year was fantastic, the way we got the show back on the road. It was out of this world. The players are a great bunch of lads and I love working with them."