Trapattoni may take a Long shot

THE build-up to Ireland’s European Championship qualification play-offs against Estonia next month gets off to an early start today when Giovanni Trapattoni unveils his squad at 9am in FAI headquarters in Abbotstown.

After that, the Ireland manager heads west to take up an invitation to visit the Cliffs of Moher, a spectacle which is bound to invite captions of either the ‘looking to a bright future’ or ‘staring into the abyss’ variety, ahead of what will be the decisive games of his tenure. ‘On the brink’, perhaps, might be the most acceptable compromise.

Trapattoni’s main concern for now is the well-being of his strikers, with Kevin Doyle suspended for the first leg, Shane Long all but ruled out by his club West Brom, and Robbie Keane still on the road to recovery, all of which has left Newcastle United’s Leon Best hoping for a recall.