SOCCER REPUBLIC OF IRELAND SQUAD:DAMIEN DUFF'S return from injury has the potential to provide a major selection dilemma for Giovanni Trapattoni ahead of the European Championship qualifiers against Russia and Slovakia, according to the veteran Italian coach although he remains unconvinced that the Dubliner will be fit enough to play for 90 minutes against the Republic of Ireland's strongest group rivals.

The winger came through Fulham’s draw at Blackburn over the weekend after a calf injury and Trapattoni seemed genuinely taken yesterday as he named a virtually unchanged squad for the games on October 8th (Russia at home) and 12th (Slovakia away) with the prospect of having Duff back to challenge Aiden McGeady for a place on the wing.

“McGeady played very, very, very well last time but when Duff comes back we will look at who plays,” he said. “It’s good to have players that force you to make difficult decisions,” said the manager.

“Duff played 90 minutes on Saturday and that’s good but he goes one month and then he gets injured. I wonder if he can play 90 minutes (in the group games). I hope so but it is something I have to consider.”

The Italian, however, appears to have no such doubts about Paul Green’s ability to keep soldiering on in midfield. Keith Andrews has been named in the squad but Trapattoni admitted that, having checked on his fitness only last week when he was told the midfielder was still not back in full training, he doesn’t really expect him to feature. He then shifted his attention to Green, prompted apparently by having seen the Derby County player receive five in a player ratings newspaper piece after the Andorra match.

“He got five but he was one of the best players on the pitch,” said Trapattoni with a hint of exasperation before attempting to coax a confession to being the guilty party from anyone who asked a follow-up question.

Trapattoni went on to compare Green to Nobby Stiles who, he observed, was a key player for England in his heyday.

“There are engineers and there are architects,” he remarked. “With him, we win many balls in midfield and that gives us a lot of opportunities. We are not Manchester United or Real Madrid. We are a team based on the best Irish players; a lot depends on our attitude and our willingness to work hard and help each other.”

Darron Gibson, it seems, may be starting on the bench again.

There was, meanwhile, no room in the squad for Séamus Coleman despite the Everton right-back seeing a lot more first-team action these days than Greg Cunningham, the Manchester City left-back who has slipped back in Roberto Mancini’s pecking order since the arrival of the currently injured Aleksandar Kolarov with Trapattoni insisting that he would wait until the friendly against Norway in November.

Whether Shay Given’s situation will have improved by then remains to be seen but with Chris Hughton categorically ruling out a return by the Donegalman to St James’ Park on an emergency loan, it appears that the goalkeeper will simply have to dig in, work hard and hope for the best until January.

In the wake of the difficulties with Gibson a couple of weeks back, Trapattoni was reluctant to get into suggesting that there is any necessity for the 34-year-old to move but the Italian nevertheless revealed that both he and Marco Tardelli had mentioned the player to club managers back at home.

Regardless of what happens over the coming months – Mancini said at the weekend that he will let the player move on in January if he is still determined to do so – Trapattoni insists that he has no concerns regarding his first choice goalkeeper’s future.

“He is a strong character,” said the manager, “and when I spoke to him around the times of the Armenia and Andorra matches he was confident about his future. And I have confidence in him. Shay is Shay. He will train very hard, he will play some games and our team is like that. It’s the same with (Liam) Lawrence and (Kevin) Kilbane. The players don’t always play for their clubs but we don’t look for excuses.”

He certainly hopes to avoid the need for any in the wake of next month’s games but is very clear that he rates the home match against Russia as the more important of the two.

“They will both be very tough but particularly Russia because they will be angry after losing at home to Slovakia,” he says. “I hope we can be 10 to 20 per cent better (than against Armenia and Andorra). The players will have played more games and will be in better condition and we will look to win the game; that’s important although we have to remember that while it’s important to win, it’s more important not to lose.”

Republic of Ireland Squad

v Russia (Oct 8th) and Slovakia (Oct 12th)

Shay GivenManchester City Keiren WestwoodCoventry City Joe MurphyScunthorpe United John O'SheaManchester United Richard DunneAston Villa Seán St LedgerPreston North End Greg CunninghamManchester City Kevin FoleyWolverhampton Stephen KellyFulham Paul McShaneHull City Darren O'DeaIpswich Town Kevin KilbaneHull City Keith AndrewsBlackburn Rovers Glenn WhelanStoke City Darron GibsonManchester United Paul GreenDerby County Liam LawrencePortsmouth Aiden McGeadySpartak Moscow Andy KeoghCardiff City Damien DuffFulham Keith FaheyBirmingham City Keith TreacyPreston North End Robbie KeaneTottenham Hotspur Kevin DoyleWolverhampton Shane LongReading Cillian SheridanCSKA Sofia