No Italian job as Keane held in reserve for France clash

Owen Cowzer

With Manchester United due to play five games in the opening 18 days of the season, they requested that their star player’s

injury-prone joints be excused from next week’s Lansdowne Road clash.

“He is carrying a hamstring and there’s soreness in his groin as well. He’s got a lot of matches in the next couple of weeks so they’ve asked us not to use him in this game,” Brian Kerr revealed yesterday.

“I’d like to have all the players but I understand the situation. Roy has played in several of the friendly games since he’s come back.

“I think we’ve handled the situation satisfactorily, given there is no doubt he has some difficulties when the games come up fast and furious as they can do when United are involved in Europe. I totally understand the situation for his well being and making sure he is well for us when it comes to September.”

With Keane, who turns 34 tomorrow, missing, Brian Kerr revealed yesterday.

“I’d like to have all the players but I understand the situation. Roy has played in several of the friendly games since he’s come back.

“I think we’ve handled the situation satisfactorily, given there is no doubt he has some difficulties when the games come up fast and furious as they can do when United are involved in Europe. I totally understand the situation for his well being and making sure he is well for us when it comes to September.”

With Keane, who turns 34 tomorrow, missing, Kerr will not be able to use the Italy match as a dry run for France and with no more friendly matches planned, Keane’s next clash will be the France match.

“I’m not going to use the match and say here’s the XI that we’ll use against France and put them out and that’s it,” said Kerr. “I’d like us to win, I’d like us to play well and I’d like us to increase our confidence going into the French game, to come out of the game feeling good about ourselves and feeling that we can beat France.”

While, Keane misses out, the rest of the squad is on familiar lines with Richard Dunne surprisingly included after early reports suggested that he would be out for the next three months with a broken foot.

However, Dunne has made a miraculous recovery and is in contention for a place in the Manchester City side for the Premiership opener against West Brom on Saturday. Of those that will report in on Sunday afternoon, many will be in the exact same situation as they were at the end of last season despite plenty of speculation that Irish players would be on the move over the summer.

Only Andy O’Brien has switched clubs in the interim period despite speculation linking Liam Miller, Robbie Keane, Clinton Morrison and Ian Harte with moves.

“Liam didn’t play enough games for himself or his development,” said Kerr. “When you get the chance you have to take it and it’s difficult because of the players vieing for places at United.

“But there has been a bit of movement in the summer of players out, which may help him. I know that the manager still talks very highly of him and he may well be nearer to the picture than last year.

“It’s important for him to get games. From our point of view we need Liam to be playing and need him to go on and impose himself, to play much more regularly than last year to develop as a club player and as an international.”

Of the others expected to move on, Kerr admitted that the collapse in the English transfer market has hit some of his players badly.

“The market in England as well outside of the top four or five clubs, if you include Spurs, there’s not really anyone buying players. They are trying to pick up players in the current climate for free or else they won’t pay fees.

“Ian (Harte’s) situation is that the club have said they want 3m for him, and given that they paid nothing for him, he must have had a great season,” said Kerr with a wry smile.

“He did speak to one or two clubs but they weren’t willing to pay anything like that in terms of a fee. But he is anxious to get back into a higher level in football than the Second Division in Spain.”

IRELAND SQUAD (v ITALY): Given (Newcastle Utd), Kenny (Sheffield Utd), Colgan (Barnsley), Cunningham (Birmingham), Breen (Sunderland), O’Brien (Portsmouth), O’Shea (Man Utd), Carr (Newcastle), Harte (Levante), Finnan (Liverpool), Dunne (Man City), S Reid (Blackburn Rovers), Miller (Man Utd), Holland (Charlton), Kavanagh (Wigan), Kilbane (Everton), A Reid (Spurs), Quinn (Sheffield Utd), Duff (Chelsea), Doherty (Norwich), Elliott (Sunderland), Morrison (Birmingham), Keane (Spurs).