Best gets Ireland’s call as Trap considers options

GIOVANNI TRAPATTONI has called Leon Best into the Irish squad for the Euro 2012 play-off against Estonia, the surest indication yet that Shane Long is unlikely to be fit for the games.

And while John O’Shea looks like missing out on the first leg in Tallinn on November 11, there is still hope in the Irish camp that the experienced Sunderland defender will be fit enough to join up with the squad in Dublin ahead of the second leg at Aviva Stadium four days later.

The omission from the original panel of in-form Newcastle striker Best was a controversial one to begin with, but the manager’s hand has now clearly been forced, against the backdrop of a further gloomy prognosis for Long from West Brom boss Roy Hodgson.