Tardelli urges fringe players to take their chance

The Republic of Ireland's fringe players have been challenged to prove they can cut it at international level.

For Wednesday's friendly with Serbia in Belgrade, senior stars in Robbie Keane, Shay Given, Richard Dunne, Damien Duff, Stephen Hunt and Keith Andrews are not amongst the squad.

Instead, ahead of a World Cup qualifying campaign that opens with a trip to Kazakhstan next month, manager Giovanni Trapattoni will use the game to run the rule over a number of options.

For Wigan midfielder James McCarthy, Everton defender Seamus Coleman and Sunderland striker James McClean, with just six international appearances between them, it is their chance to prove a point.

Assistant manager Marco Tardelli said: "For this game with Serbia we wait for the players to show us they are ready to play in an international match.

"It's not a worry we have so many players missing. I am sure the players with us will show they are ready to play.

"They have good motivation to play and the young players can give us a strong, physical side, and they can show us they can stay in the squad."

Trapattoni has made clear the senior players not on duty on this occasion will have a part to play over the coming months ahead of a tough qualifying campaign which sees them in the same group as Germany, Sweden and Austria, as well as the Kazakhs and Faroe Islands.

After a disappointing Euro 2012 tournament in which Ireland lost all three of their group games to Croatia and finalists Spain and Italy, it remains to be seen whether 73-year-old Trapattoni will adopt a more fluid tactical approach for the World Cup qualifying programme.

The suggestion is Trapattoni will look at both 4-4-2 and 4-3-3 formations against Serbia, with Tardelli suggesting anything beyond that requires greater preparation.

"Why should we change? In four years we've achieved good results," said Tardelli following today's training session at Malahide.

"(Sir) Alex Ferguson has played with the same system for 30 years.

"It is possible to try (something different), but we need time. We need the players for a week or 10 days."

Unsurprisingly, Trapattoni has had to contend with a number of players pulling out through injury, notably Wolves striker Kevin Doyle (haematoma) and Stoke defender Marc Wilson (virus).

Everton midfielder Darron Gibson (thigh) withdrew on Friday, and although Norwich's Wes Hoolahan was drafted in as a replacement, he pulled out a few hours later with an Achilles problem.

Norwich were contacted about Anthony Pilkington's availability, but he sustained a hamstring injury in a pre-season friendly on Saturday, resulting in a call up for Ipswich defender Damien Delaney.

Defender Stephen Ward and Burnley midfielder Keith Treacy have today become the latest to join the casualty list with knee and groin injuries respectively.