Abidal ruled out for France

FRANCE defender Eric Abidal will miss the second leg of the World Cup play-off against Ireland on Wednesday night due to a thigh injury.

The Barcelona full-back played the full 90 minutes of Saturday night’s 1-0 win at Croke Park but sustained the problem in his left leg and will not be available for the return at Stade de France.

Lyon midfielder Jeremy Toulalan is also ruled out, having not recovered from a hamstring injury which kept him out of the Dublin game.