Given passed fit for German clash

With Ireland's World Cup clash with the Germans now just over 24 hours away good news from the camp is that keeper Shay Given has been passed fit to play.

Given picked up a hip injury in the 1-1 draw with Cameroon at the weekend but Mick McCarthy has confirmed that he will start the game.

The squad trains behind closed doors at it's Chiba City base this morning after McCarthy elected not to take his players on the five-hour round trip to Ibaraki to train inside the Kasiman stadium.

Meanwhile Gary Breen and Steve Finnan are also expected to fit despite picking up knocks and sitting out yesterday's training session.

McCarthy does have a few selection problems however. Speculation is mounting that Gary Kelly, who impressed against the African champions at the weekend, will start the game tomorrow, possibly at the expense of Ian Harte at left-back.