Doyle out of Ireland’s trip to Macedonia

ALTHOUGH still awaiting official confirmation of the news from his club, the FAI were resigned yesterday to the Republic of Ireland being without Kevin Doyle for the European Championship qualifier against Macedonia on June 4.

“The information we have is that he is out,” said a spokesperson last night.

Giovanni Trapattoni can only hope now that Doyle’s obvious replacement, the in-form Shane Long, comes safely through Reading’s promotion play-off game against Swansea on May 30, just a few short days before the crunch trip to Skopje.