Kavanagh battling to prove fitness

GRAHAM KAVANAGH will discover this afternoon if he is fit to play in the Republic’s friendly international against Italy at Lansdowne Road tomorrow.

The midfielder is still nursing the injured foot - a muscle tear sustained two weeks ago in a pre-season friendly - which caused him to miss Wigan’s Premiership debut against Chelsea on Sunday.

Kavanagh didn’t train with the Irish squad yesterday and a decision on his fitness will be made at today’s training session. Kavanagh was sounding upbeat about his prospects.