Trap hunting three points

Republic of Ireland v Macedonia

Republic of Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni handed competitive debuts to Keiren Westwood, Kevin Foley and Darren O’Dea as he went in search of three Euro 2012 points against Macedonia.

The trio, who went into the game with only 12 senior caps between them and all of them in friendlies, replaced injured trio Shay Given, John O’Shea and Sean St Ledger.

Trapattoni’s team featured six changes to the side which drew 1-1 in Slovakia in the last qualifier, with Damien Duff and Kevin Doyle returning and Darron Gibson taking over from Paul Green in central midfield.

Macedonia coach Mirsad Jonuz included Inter Milan striker Goran Pandev and Dynamo Kiev defender Goran Popov in his team.

Teams:

Rep of Ireland: Westwood, Foley, O’Dea, Dunne, Kilbane, McGeady, Whelan, Gibson, Duff, Doyle, Keane. Subs: Forde, Kelly, McCarthy, Long, Clark, Lawrence, Fahey.

FYR Macedonia: Nuredinovski, Sikov, Noveski, Grncarov, Popov, Sumulikoski, Trickovski, Demiri, Tasevski, Pandev, Naumoski. Subs: Bogatinov, Mitreski, Georgievski, Ristic, Despotovski, Lazevski, Gjurovski.

Referee: Istvan Vad (Hungary)