Best ‘baffled’ at Ireland exclusion

LEON BEST has admitted he is “baffled” at his continued exclusion from the Republic of Ireland squad as he is in the form of his life for Newcastle.

But the Magpies striker says he will focus on playing for his club and work harder to earn a recall.

Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni opted not to call up the striker for the upcoming Euro 2012 play-off clash with Estonia — having previously questioned Best’s workrate — and Best admits surprise at the decision, particularly with Shane Long a major doubt through injury.

“Every time it’s mentioned it baffles me, I don’t understand,” Best told Talksport radio.

“Again I have seen what Trapattoni has been saying in the papers about workrate and that but he only has to ring up Newcastle and ask for my stats, the pro zone will tell you I’ve been doing nearly 10 kilometres a game.

“I don’t know what it is. But if he’s saying I need to work harder then I need to work harder, he’s the man to learn off and he’s got the experience and knows what he wants.”

Best explained he has not been in contact with Trapattoni or anyone at the FAI about his continued exclusion.

“I’ve not spoken to anyone or heard from anyone... I’m not in touch with anyone at the minute, I don’t have anyone’s number there apart from the security, I don’t feel I’m really in a position to just ring Trap and say why he didn’t pick me.”

But the striker says he is not allowing the manager’s decision to upset his game.

“It didn’t upset me because I’m enjoying playing for Newcastle so much, it’s the best point of my career. it just made me step back and think what has gone here, what have I done wrong or what more do I need to do because I was getting in the squad when i was in the Championship and not playing every week.”

Best has recovered from a bout of tonsillitis and is fit to play in tonight’s clash with Stoke.

Stoke boss Tony Pulis is facing a selection headache this week as he tries to manage his squad through three games in seven days.

Tonight’s televised clash against Newcastle comes before Thursday’s trip to face Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Europa League and Sunday’s visit to Bolton.

“We’ve got a difficult week,” Pulis said. “For the game to be put back to Monday is disappointing for us because we then have to play Thursday and then Sunday again so we have virtually no rest at all.”

Pulis said he would have to keep a close eye on his players’ condition before picking his side.

“Because it’s such a difficult week, I will look at the situation closely this week,” he said. “We play Monday, then we’re flying Wednesday, flying back after the game and we’ve a game against Bolton on Sunday.

“The third game of the week is a difficult, difficult game.”

Newcastle remain unbeaten in the league, having had their first taste of defeat this season in a dramatic 4-3 extra-time Carling Cup defeat against struggling Blackburn.

But Stoke can also point to an undefeated start to the season at home, where they have won two and drawn two so far.

Although the coming week might represent an extreme, Pulis is getting used to carefully managing his squad through an intensive schedule as they handle the extra demands of European competition.

They are no longer competing on all fronts after the midweek Carling Cup exit to Liverpool, a match that was Stoke’s 18th of the season.

“It’s a unique season, in lots of respects,” Pulis added. “We’ve played 18 games so far, and to put that in context that’s nearly half a Premier League season and we’ve done that before we’ve got out of October.”