Gibson withdraws from Ireland training squad

DARRON GIBSON was the most high-profile casualty as a decimated version of Ireland’s developmental squad gathered for the first day of their training camp in Malahide yesterday.

The Manchester United midfielder has withdrawn from the squad and will not be available for the upcoming friendlies against Paraguay and Algeria because of a groin injury.

But he was hardly alone on the missing list on a day when assistant manager Marco Tardelli joked that he didn’t know exactly who would be available for tomorrow’s training game against the Irish U23s and then turned to FAI press officer Peter Sherrard to ask if he might be ready for a call-up.

As of this morning, the following, along with Gibson, are definitely absent through injury: Sunderland’s David Meyler, Stephen Ward and Caleb Folan.

Keith Treacy was in the team hotel yesterday but, after consultation with Giovanni Trapattoni and the Irish doctor, returned to Preston to continue his recovery from a hernia operation.

Marc Wilson is due in but, nursing a hamstring injury, will need to be assessed if he’s to play any part in the training camp. There are doubts too over Wigan’s James McCarthy, while Wolves’ Andy Keogh, whose partner is expecting a baby, has not travelled. Liam Lawrence of Stoke, who was yesterday attending a family wedding, is expected in today. Boldly accentuating the positives, Tardelli insisted that the players still available can learn a lot over the coming week.

“There are good players here,” he said, name-checking the likes of Seamus Duffy, Keith Fahey and Greg Cunningham, the latter, along with Cillian Sheridan, the most recent call-ups to the squad. “We must get to know the younger players, especially those who don’t get a chance to play so much in the Championship or the Premier League. They must understand what we do and it’s possible, in four or five days, to learn about how to play in our system.”

Tardelli, meanwhile, seemed to raise fresh doubts about whether Shay Given and Stephen Hunt will recover sufficiently from their injuries to feature in Ireland’s opening European Championship qualifiers in September.

Trapattoni has spoken with Given since he underwent shoulder surgery, said Tardelli, who added that only the doctors will be able to determine the timescale for his recovery.

* Last night the FAI confirmed that Paul McShane will captain the senior team in tomorrow evening’s training game against the U23 team managed by Paul Doolin.