Irish camp wary of Grosso

THE threat posed by Italy’s marauding full-back Fabio Grosso is one of the reasons why Liam Lawrence appears poised for a starting place for Ireland at Croke Park tomorrow night.

For the second day running in training yesterday, the Stoke City man featured in the ‘yellow bib’ selection which is normally close to Giovanni Trapattoni’s match line-up.

And while Assistant Manager Marco Tardelli insisted that no final decision had been made about tomorrow’s starting 11, it was clear that Grosso’s expected presence on the pitch is a factor in Trapattoni’s thinking.