Kerr ponders midfield options
Having already resigned himself to losing Roy Keane to cracked ribs and Matt Holland to an ankle problem, David Connolly and Rory Delap, both with calf problems, have joined the two experienced midfielders, along with Liam Miller, on the sidelines.
While both players would have been useful options within the squad, the absence of Keane and Holland were more taxing for the manager. “Matt hasn’t been able to train and when Matt misses a match, you know the problem must be serious. It is not looking good at the moment.”
That bad news from the Valley has just enhanced Keane’s absence. Kerr was finally able to shed some light on the cracked rib the Manchester United skipper suffered in his first game of the season, the Champions league qualifier against Dinamo Bucharest.
“Roy tried to contact me last Wednesday, when the new logo was launched. By the time I returned his call, the club had already released some information saying that he had rib damage. Our medical team liaised with Manchester United medical team to establish what the problem was and he suffered a hairline fracture of the 5th and 6th ribs.
“He hasn’t been able to train and just needs to be immobilised to give his ribs time to heal,” Kerr said, although the past 18 months of international management has taught him to expect withdrawals in the week before the game. However, these are two significant withdrawals.
Without Keane, Holland would have been expected to step into the breach. The past 11 months of friendly football means there are a number of players able to fill a gap for the manager, though.
“We still have five or six players who have played midfield in recent matches. Kevin Kilbane has filled in there, Andy Reid and Graham Kavanagh comes into the picture now too. It has been very stop-start for Graham since he came back into the squad, but when he has played, he has done very well for us.
“You are always going to have this. There are a few jigs and reels between when the squad is picked and the squad getting together. We will see how it fares out in the next couple of days before we decide to call anyone else into the squad.
“We will still have 21 or 22 players and you can only tog 18 and start 11, so we will wait and see.” The entire squad didn’t assemble in Portmarnock yesterday, with three players involved in league games last night.
One injury concern that has eased is that of Robbie Keane. The striker, one goal away from the Irish goal-scoring record, started for Spurs at the weekend and Kerr believes he is raring to go.
“When he initially got the injury, I thought there was a reasonable amount of time for him to come back. I didn’t want to be overly optimistic, but I was glad to see him starting for Spurs at the weekend.”
Keane has some football behind him before starting the qualifying campaign. His likely partner Damien Duff has barely any under the new regime at Chelsea. A concern? “I thought Damien looked sharp against Bulgaria, even though the grass was heavy that night. There was no lack of sharpness on Saturday when he came on, I saw fairly extensive highlights of that game and his confidence is high. Everyone else in the squad has been playing regularly.”
Except maybe Clinton Morrison. The Birmingham City striker has suffered a recurrence of a knee problem, but was sprung from the bench at the weekend. Kerr has no worries over Morrison.
“He told me at training that it was the best he ever felt. The knee doesn’t seem to be a problem.”
Deadline day passed with remarkably little Irish activity on the market - a fact that is going to trouble some Irish football fans when they think of Andy Reid.
The promising midfielder handed in a transfer request at Forest, but now looks likely to stay with the club until January at least.
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