Henderson and Doyle keeping in the frame

IT WAS a beautiful sunny day at Arsenal’s training ground in St Albans yesterday but the sight of Shay Given sitting out training sent a shiver down the spine.

Giovanni Trapattoni was quick to offer reassurance, however. Although Ireland’s Number One had been nursing a hip injury going into last Friday’s friendly game against Nigeria, the manager was able to confirm that the Donegal man is good to go for Saturday’s World Cup clash in Bulgaria.

The only reason Given wasn’t between the sticks yesterday was because the manager wanted to look at Wayne Henderson and Colin Doyle, the two men called up at the last moment in the fallout from ‘Keepergate’, the bizarre saga which saw first Dean Kiely and then Kieren Westwood confirmed as non-runners for Sofia.