Trap looks on the bright side

THERE was plenty of forward thinking from Giovanni Trapattoni yesterday as his press conference to announce his European Championship play-off squad was dominated by the injury concerns ahead of next month’s games against Estonia.

The good news from the manager is that he is optimistic Robbie Keane will be fit for duty and he has not yet ruled out Shane Long’s chance of making an unexpectedly speedy recovery from his recent knee injury.

Keane informed Trapattoni he is back in training and expects to be able to answer his country’s call, even if he fails to play in LA Galaxy’s games between now and the first leg of the play off against Estonia. “He answered me that he’s very optimistic,” said the manager of his captain. He said the injury has improved. He said he started training and played a friendly game in training.. If he is fit he will play with his country. He told me. That’s important.”