King: I’m starting with a clean slate

Ireland’s interim manager Noel King says he’s taking on the job “with a clean slate” and is not ruling out any player for a possible call-up to the squad for next month’s games against Germany and Kazakhstan.

As the search begins for a permanent successor to Giovanni Trapattoni, U21 head coach King’s first task as caretaker boss of the senior team is to compile the panel for those games which he will unveil in Dublin next Monday.

Since the departure of the Italian, Darron Gibson and Anthony Stokes have stated their desire to get themselves back into contention for a place in the squad while even Stephen Ireland has hinted that he might be willing to end his long exile from international duty.