Pilkington looks the man for Trap

Aiden McGeady’s difficulty could turn out to be Anthony Pilkington’s opportunity, as the winger’s withdrawal from the Irish squad is sure to prompt some deep thinking by Giovanni Trapattoni ahead of next Friday’s World Cup clash with Sweden.

McGeady pulled out of training at Spartak Moscow this week with an ongoing knee injury and, the FAI have now confirmed, will definitely miss the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against the Swedes and Austria, while Leicester City’s Sean St Ledger, who is still working his way back to full fitness after injuring his knee in early August, is another withdrawal.

Yeovil’s Paddy Madden is also out with a knee injury but not even the loss of the rookie striker has opened the door for Kevin Doyle, with Trapattoni – as he had previously signalled – now cutting his squad to 23. That also means Hull City’s David Meyler being moved to the stand-by list.

West Ham’s Joey O’Brien remains out of the squad despite hopes that he will be able to play for West Ham against Stoke today, a game Trapattoni is due to attend. Medical staff at Upton Park were in touch with the FAI to ask that O’Brien be allowed to rest during the international week, as he continues to receive treatment on an old knee problem which has flared up again recently. With the player always seen as cover in the latest Irish squad, Giovanni Trapattoni was happy to accede to the request. The big beneficiary this coming week could be Anthony Pilkington, who is available for selection for Norwich against Southampton today having made a scoring return from injury in his side’s 6-3 Capital One Cup victory over Bury earlier this week.

Five times in succession Pilkington has had to withdraw from Irish squads because of injury but Trapattoni has never closed the door on a player he hopes could come up with goals from wide positions for Ireland.

Now, with McGeady out, and wingers James McClean and Robbie Brady still appearing to have some work to do to convince the manager, it’s certainly not beyond the bounds of possibility that, after a week’s training in Malahide with the Irish squad, Pilkington could get the nod to finally make his senior debut next Friday at the Aviva Stadium.

Republic of Ireland 23-man squad (v Sweden, September 6 and Austria, September 10): D Forde (Millwall), K Westwood (Sunderland), D Randolph (Birmingham City), J O’Shea (Sunderland), M Wilson (Stoke City), S Coleman (Everton), S Kelly (Reading), D O’Dea (FC Metalurh Donetsk), C Clark (Aston Villa), R Dunne (QPR), P McShane (Hull City), G Whelan (Stoke City), J McCarthy (Wigan Athletic), P Green (Leeds Utd), A Pilkington (Norwich City), J McClean (Wigan Athletic), R Brady (Hull City), W Hoolahan (Norwich City), S Long (West Brom), R Keane (LA Galaxy), C Sammon (Derby County), J Walters (Stoke City), S Cox (Nottingham Forest).