Trap looks on the bright side

DETERMINED to mine a positive from a negative, Giovanni Trapattoni says that Ireland’s 0-3 loss to Australia on Wednesday night has clarified his thoughts on the strongest 11 he can put out against Cyprus in next month’s World Cup qualifier in Nicosia.

“I know in my head what I want,” he said. “The positive from the negative is that I am convinced now of what is the toughest and strongest team to play. But in order to try find the best team, I had to try different options. We have to try to widen the selection.”

While obviously not about to name the side three weeks in advance, it was possible – even allowing for the element of linguistic confusion which frequently attends his pronouncements – to discern the direction of the manager’s thinking on a number of potentially contentious issues.