Trap: Number one shirt not a Given but he’s ready if needed
Speaking following the announcement of his squad for next month’s friendly against Poland — a 27-man panel in which Given does not feature – Giovanni Trapattoni said he has spoken to the veteran keeper about his determination to move things forward.
“It’s similar to the way I would have explained it to Robbie Keane, that there’s an evolution in the squad and it’s important for us to keep bringing players through,” he said.
“I explained to Shay that I needed to use this match to give the players that I have more experience. Westwood, Forde and Henderson, they give us confidence and it’s important to give the young players an opportunity.
“When Shay spoke to us on the phone he said that if we need him that he’d be there. That shows a great pride in the jersey, a great professionalism. It’s what characterises Shay as a player and we have a great deal of respect for him. We will continue to follow him as a player. But I feel I have to give experience to Forde, Westwood, Randolph and Henderson.
“Certainly I have the utmost respect for Shay. He’s made it clear that if we require him he will be there but I have said to Shay directly that we do have an obligation to move things on and give younger players experience. It’s very important that we develop that, particularly with these friendly matches.”
Meanwhile, reports that Damien Duff is also considering coming out of international retirement appear to be overstated, the FAI clarifying they have spoken to the Fulham man and a return to the green shirt is not, barring an emergency situation, something he is contemplating.
Nor did Trapattoni sound like he expected a major u-turn from him.
“It’s positive that he too says that we can call on him but it’s not something that we are thinking about. We want to give the younger players the opportunity.”
Otherwise, it was Derby day for Ireland yesterday, as three members of the Championship side were given senior call-ups for the first time. And with Norwich City winger Anthony Pilkington also included, there’s a reasonably fresh-looking feel to the initial panel for the friendly against Poland at the Aviva Stadium on February 6.
Although Giovanni Trapattoni was forced to cancel a scheduled press conference in Dublin yesterday following the death of his sister in Italy, the manager did make himself available by phone during the afternoon to shed some light on his selection decisions.
There was no surprise in the well-flagged call-up for Pilkington, of course, a player in whom Trapattoni sees considerable potential.
“We’re obviously without Damien Duff and he [Pilkington] is the sort of player who has the ability to play both left and right. He’s good, he’s well known for his goalscoring ability and that will certainly add something. But it’s not just that. Technically, he’s very good and tactically, he’s extremely aware.
“That’s something we will look forward to having in the squad. He’s also made it very clear that he’s ready to play for Ireland and that’s very positive for the country and for him and we’re looking forward to working with him.”
Speaking of the Derby County trio of defender Richard Keogh, midfielder Jeff Hendrick and one-time League of Ireland striker Conor Sammon, Trapattoni said: “Certainly the player that would have been most on our radar prior to this is Sammon. He has good technique and a very strong physical presence so he is somebody who we would have been looking at.
“In terms of Keogh, he has a good personality, we like what we’ve seen so far and I suppose with the question marks over Richard Dunne and Sean St Ledger in terms of their fitness, it’s always good to be looking at other options in defence.
“Hendrick is a very good, dynamic player, who shows a lot of ability and technique working around midfield, and we very much look forward to working with him. I think these three players have a good chance to be involved not just for this match but for matches in future with us.”
Encouragingly, Richard Dunne makes his first appearance in an Irish squad since the Euros, albeit his inclusion comes with an asterisk attached – the Aston Villa man is on stand-by, pending further updates on his recovery from injury. “Richard is still optimistic that he might be able to make a recovery in time for February,” said Trapattoni.
“It’s certainly early days but it’s possibly looking a little more positive. I don’t know if I’d want to run the risk of playing him in February but if he is ready we’ll have a look because he will be very important to us against the threat of Ibrahimovic in March. We’ll wait and see but it’s certainly a little more positive in terms of the news that we’re getting.”
One notable absentee from the latest squad is Stephen Kelly, who has just completed a move from Fulham to Reading. Given that he was reportedly at loggerheads with the management before travelling to the World Cup qualifier in the Faroes, the assumption might be that he is no longer in the manager’s good books. However, Trapattoni insisted the reality is much more prosaic.
“It’s simply a break with Stephen, it gives us the opportunity to have a look at other players,” he said. “I was in touch with him to let him know about it. The reality is that Stephen hasn’t been playing for the last couple of months. Obviously he had a game with Reading but I think for this match we’re just looking at other options and that’s what I explained to him. Also we wanted to have a look at Greg Cunningham who has come back and this is an opportunity to look at him, I want to take that.”
Also missing from the squad for the Poland game is Robbie Keane, who is being rested, the injured duo of Sean St Ledger and Marc Wilson and Keith Andrews, who damaged a quad muscle playing for Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.
Keiren Westwood, David Forde, Stephen Henderson.
John O’Shea, Ciaran Clark, Darren O’Dea, Richard Dunne*, Paul McShane, Seamus Coleman, Richard Keogh, Greg Cunningham, Stephen Ward.
Anthony Pilkington, James McClean, Robbie Brady, Aiden McGeady, Glenn Whelan, James McCarthy, Jeff Hendrick, David Meyler, Wes Hoolahan.
Simon Cox, Shane Long, Jon Walters, Conor Sammon, Andy Keogh, Kevin Doyle.
* On standby, pending injury updates.
