Blow for Trap as Duff joins growing injury list
Since featuring in the home game against the Macedonians on March 26, a recurrence of an achilles problem has restricted Duff to just one appearance for his club and, speaking yesterday in Athlone, Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni revealed the bad news that – although Duff is included in the official squad press release as “provisional based on fitness” — the winger is now facing surgery in a bid to rectify the problem.
“A week ago he told me that he had a little problem with his achilles,” said Trapattoni, before confirming that in the space of just a few days it has emerged as quite a big problem indeed.
“Since then, Fulham’s doctor has confirmed to our doctor that Damien will have to go into hospital for an operation to clean up the achilles. He is due to have that next week and after that he will need at least three or four weeks to recover.”
And in a double-whammy for Trapattoni, the manager is planning to have to do without Kevin Doyle for the game in Skopje too. Although the Wolves man has not yet been definitively ruled out, Trapattoni said that the club’s medical staff have indicated that it will be next season before the striker – who sustained a knee injury in the home win against Macedonia – is back in action again.
Coupled with the absence of Richard Dunne through suspension, the injury setbacks serve to make an already tricky away assignment even more of a test but Trapattoni, as you might expect, is determined not to turn a drama into a crisis.
“Our habit is not to cry about missing players,” he said. “I have to give the substitutes confidence and trust. Of course, Damien is Damien. We know that he, like Aiden (McGeady), is important for us. I also pray that John O’ Shea will not suffer an injury between now and then. Because we are already without Richard Dunne and both Sean St Ledger (knee) and Darren O’ Dea (ankle) are still doubts.”
In fact, Ipswich manager Paul Jewell seems to have already ruled out O’ Dea, claiming that the on-loan Celtic centre-half will require surgery on what he called “a nasty ankle injury”.
Better news for Ireland is that Shay Given has confirmed his fitness for the fray – especially welcome in light of continuing concerns about Keiren Westwood’s injured shoulder — while Blackburn’s Keith Andrews, a long-term absentee with a groin problem, is once more back in the selection frame.
Given that Ireland have two Carling Nations Cup games – against Northern Ireland and Scotland on May 24 and 29 – before that crunch date in Skopje on June 4, Trapattoni has named an extensive panel which includes a recall for Caleb Folan, now back on the scoring trail with Colorado Rapids in the U.S, but just two uncapped players, goalkeeper David Forde of Millwall and Stephen Ward of Wolves.
However, there is still no place for former Shels favourite Wes Hoolahan despite him crowning a memorable season with Norwich by helping them to promotion to the Premier League as runners-up behind QPR in the Championship.
And it has emerged that one further option could yet play a part in the May friendlies. Although not named in yesterday’s squad, West Brom striker Simon Cox – who qualifies for Ireland through a Galway grandmother – is likely to be included once the documentation to confirm his eligibility is completed.
However, Trapatton is confident that his players will give their all in the season’s final push and he is hoping that it will be enough to leave Skopje with three qualification points in the bag.
“We have three teams level on 10 points in the group now,” he observed. “Every game is important but, for me, the game in Macedonia is especially important. Psychologically, I would not want us to be going to Moscow in September needing to win against Russia.”
Republic of Ireland squad: Given (Man City), Westwood (Coventry), Forde (Millwall); Dunne (Aston Villa), O’Shea (Man Utd), Foley (Wolves), Delaney (Ipswich), Clark (Aston Villa), Coleman (Everton), Kilbane (Huddersfield), Kelly (Fulham), McShane (Hull); McCarthy (Wigan), Whelan (Stoke), Wilson (Stoke), Gibson (Man Utd), McGeady (Spartak Moscow), Fahey (Birmingham), Lawrence (Portsmouth), Treacy (Preston), Hunt (Wolves), Ward (Wolves); Keogh (Wolves), Stokes (Celtic) Folan (Colorado Rapids), Walters (Stoke), Keane (West Ham), Long (Reading).
Provisional call-ups subject to fitness: St Ledger (Preston), Duff (Fulham), O’Dea (Ipswich), Andrews (Blackburn), Doyle (Wolves).
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