Reid and Finnan to miss qualifier

Steven Reid and Steve Finnan are the latest withdrawals from the Republic of Ireland squad for their vital Euro 2004 qualifier against Georgia in Tbilisi.

Millwall midfielder Reid and Fulham defender Finnan had to withdraw from manager Brian Kerr’s travelling squad tonight after scans on their respective ankle and rib injuries made them unavailable for Saturday’s match.

Graham Barrett, currently on loan from Arsenal to Brighton, has been promoted to the senior squad after originally being selected for the under-21s game against the Georgians on Friday.

Barrett, in action for Brighton against Crystal Palace tonight, will link up with the rest of his team-mates in Dublin tomorrow.

With snow falling in Tbilisi, Georgian officials remain confident the game will go ahead.

The Republic, having lost 4-2 in Moscow in September and then 2-1 to Switzerland in Dublin the following month, must win if they are to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the European Championship finals in Portugal next year.

New boss Brian Kerr had earlier insisted it would be “inappropriate” to discuss Robbie Keane’s availability for the forthcoming qualifiers, following his father’s death.

The Tottenham striker played in last night’s Barclaycard Premiership defeat to Bolton at the Reebok Stadium and was scheduled to travel to Dublin today where preparations are under way for the games against Georgia and Albania.

However, following the news his father had passed away in Ireland late yesterday after a long battle with cancer, Keane’s participation on Saturday is unlikely – although he could link up with the squad for the game in Albania next Wednesday.

Kerr said: “It would be inappropriate to talk about it at this stage.

“All I can say is that we send our sympathies to Robbie, Amy, Natasha, Graham and their mother Anne in this difficult time.

“Everybody in this room has probably suffered something like it – so, at the moment, I don’t want to talk about Robbie and the squad.”

The 22-year-old was set to make his international return after several weeks on the sidelines with a knee injury which forced him to miss Kerr’s senior managerial debut as the Irish beat Scotland 2-0 at Hampden Park last month.

Keane issued the following statement through his management company, SFX, to the Press Association this morning.

He said: “My father was a massive influence on my football career as well as being inspirational in every part of my life.

“He fought a very brave and long fight against cancer but always remained in good spirits. I considered him more like a brother to me than a father.

“It fills me with pride to remember that the last match he saw me play in was against Everton when I was lucky enough to score a hat-trick.

“I will miss him greatly and I would be very grateful if my family and I could be allowed our privacy to grieve for a wonderful man.”

Before the withdrawals of Reid and Finnan, Kerr had seen Ian Harte withdraw from the squad for domestic reasons – while Birmingham striker Clinton Morrison (dislocated shoulder), Sunderland midfielder Jason McAteer (hamstring) and Leeds full-back Gary Kelly (hamstring) are all on to the absentee list.

As a result Rotherham’s Alan Lee, Stephen McPhail of Leeds and Manchester City’s Richard Dunne were all called upon – while Spurs duo Stephen Carr and Gary Doherty reported for duty today.

Some better news for Ireland is that Manchester United’s John O’Shea took full part in today’s training session after initial fears at the weekend he had tweaked his hamstring.