Dunne joins squad to face Canada as four defenders pull out injured

MANCHESTER CITY defender Richard Dunne has been added to the Republic of Ireland squad to face Canada on Tuesday following the withdrawals of Newcastle United’s Andy O’Brien, Sunderland’s Gary Breen and Liverpool’s Steve Finnan.

O’Brien is out with ankle ligament damage, while a knee injury has ruled out Breen and Finnan was forced out with medial knee ligament damage.

Defender Dunne was left out of the original squad but recently regained his first team place at Manchester City after recovering from an ankle injury. Kenny Cunningham (Birmingham City) and John O’Shea (Manchester United) are his only rivals for a centre back berth.

So far, manager Brian Kerr has used Dunne sparingly because of the form of Breen and Cunningham, but when called upon, he has delivered the goods, earning a man of the match award for his performance in Ireland’s 1-0 victory over Norway in April, while he scored the equaliser in the 2-2 draw with Turkey in September to preserve Kerr’s then unbeaten record.

Revised Squad: Given (Newcastle United), Murphy (West Bromwich Albion), Colgan (Stockport County), O’Shea (Manchester United), Carr (Tottenham Hotspur), Cunningham (Birmingham City), Dunne (Manchester City), Harte (Leeds United), Reid (Blackburn Rovers), Healy (Sunderland), Holland (Charlton Athletic), Miller (Celtic), Delap (Southampton), Kavanagh (Cardiff City), McPhail (Nottingham Forest), Kilbane (Everton), Reid (Nottingham Forest), Duff (Chelsea), Doherty (Tottenham Hotspur), Keane (Tottenham Hotspur), Morrison (Birmingham City).