Robbie out, Del Piero in for friendly

ROBBIE KEANE is out and Alessandro Del Piero is back. These were the two key points to emerge yesterday as the Republic of Ireland and Italy began their preparations ahead of Wednesday’s international at Lansdowne Road.

As the bulk of the Irish squad gathered in Malahide for training, manager Brian Kerr confirmed that Spurs striker Keane would miss the game.

“His injury is not too serious,” said Kerr. “I knew since Friday when Chris (Hughton) told me that he’d twisted his ankle in training. It was swollen on Saturday but when I talked to Robbie he said he felt that if he’d had another few days he would have been able to play. But I can understand Spurs not wanting him to play.”

Although centre-half Richard Dunne was another who didn’t play on Saturday, the Manchester City player, now apparently recovered from a foot injury, has joined up with the Irish squad, and Kerr revealed that he intends to play him on Wednesday.

“I spoke to Stuart Pearce during the week and I knew from talking to Richard that he felt fine but the fact that he hadn’t had any football for the last 10 days meant that City didn’t feel it was right to use him.

"But he was quite happy for Richard to come in and anxious that he get plenty of football, and I told him that he would get plenty of football with us this week. I told Stuart that he would definitely play.”

Kerr added: “It’s the same situation with Graham Kavanagh. Wigan would be anxious that he get some football, and it’s the same for Mattie Holland and Charlton.

"Mattie had a bit of a problem with his shoulder a couple of weeks ago and didn’t play for Charlton on Saturday. So it’s great that Graham, Richard and Mattie will be available to us given that they had no football this week.”

Less than half of Kerr’s squad of 22 saw 90 minutes of action over the first weekend of the season, with a number of players in the midfield and forward areas in particular restricted to appearances from the bench or none at all.

“I looked at my own (squad) sheet and saw that the first dozen or so had played but the others hadn’t,” Kerr conceded. “We have no control over that but we can give them football here. And I think they’ll be all the more anxious to play during the week.”

The 16 who trained yesterday were expected to be joined last night by Kavanagh, Kenny Cunningham and Gary Breen. The Sunderland man is nursing a sore back but Cunningham reported no ill-effects from his recent partially collapsed lung after coming through a full game for Birmingham City on Saturday.

Kerr was also keeping his fingers crossed that Damien Duff, Stephen Carr and Shay Given would also emerge unscathed from yesterday’s Premiership action at Highbury and the JJB Stadium.

The big news from Italy is that Juventus striker Del Piero is back in the national squad for the first time in almost a year.

However, there was no place for Roma forward Antonio Cassano, whose troubled relationship with his club during the close season may be the reason Marcello Lippi has left him out. The Italy coach has rated Cassano as one of his brightest hopes for next year’s World Cup finals in Germany should Italy, as expected, qualify.

But the Bari-born forward is reported to be unsettled at Roma and has had a tense pre-season with club officials trying to persuade him to extend his deal in the capital. Cassano has just one year left on his contract and has been linked with a move to Juventus after he failed to agree terms with Roma.

Del Piero’s last appearance for Italy came in September last year when he scored in the 1-0 World Cup qualifying win away to Moldova. Injuries and a loss of form kept him out of Lippi’s side subsequently but he ended last season well for Italian champions Juventus and has looked sharp in pre-season.

The player is by no means guaranteed a starting place, however.

Lippi has included Roma’s Francesco Totti and Milan pair Christian Vieiri and Alberto Gilardino while Fiorentina forward Luca Toni and Udinese target man Vincenzo Iaquinta are also hoping for a place in the front line.

A surprise inclusion in Lippi’s squad is Reggina midfielder Giandomenico Mesto, who impressed during June friendly games against Serbia & Montenegro and Ecuador.