Richard Dunne, who missed Manchester City's 4-3 defeat by Coventry on Wednesday night after a run in with manager Kevin Keegan, has again been left out of the club's travelling party for tomorrow's game at Sheffield Wednesday.
Dunne angered Keegan last weekend when he missed a training session organised for Sunday and the manager promptly imposed a substantial fine on the 21-year-old defender and dropped him from the first team squad. Yesterday he passed the Irishman over again although he did make it clear that it was not his intention to force Dunne out of the club.
"The situation has not changed from Wednesday night," Keegan told the club's official website. "His disciplinary record of turning up late for Joe Royle has been well documented and he turned up late once for me. I told him then that if he was going to be sloppy and do the same again then he would pay the maximum fine and find himself out of the team."
Dunne scored his first goal of the season in City's game against Birmingham City at the weekend but was then reportedly uncontactable when he failed to arrive for training the following afternoon. In the circumstances, said Keegan, there was no alternative to dropping him.
"Richard played well on Saturday but I don't have any qualms about what I did. If I didn't take this action I would be insulting all the other players who do turn up on time and adhere to the rules. He has no excuses.
"By taking this action I am not saying that Richard Dunne will not play for this club again. I am saying that Richard Dunne will not do that again. I have not put him on the transfer list."
Kenny Cunningham returned to training with Wimbledon yesterday morning, 41/2 months after he last played a first team game for the club. The Dubliner had been struggling ever since with a stomach muscle problem that has kept him out of the crucial World Cup qualifiers against Portugal and the Netherlands.
But the 30 year-old came through yesterday morning's session with the club's reserves without any problems and is now expected to play some part in next Wednesday's reserve team game against Fulham.
Steve Carr, meanwhile, will be out for another four months after having undergone surgery on his knee injury in the United States. The Tottenham full back travelled to Colorado last week to see specialist Dr Richard Steadman who recommended the operation. Originally the player had been told that six weeks rest would be enough to sot out the problem but he now looks certain to be laid up until at least mid-January.
Former under-21 international Alan Moore, meanwhile, is expected to sign a three-year contract with first division leaders Burnley over the next couple of days. The 26-year-old midfielder played more than 100 games for Middlesbrough before leaving during the summer and after a trial at Turf Moor, manager Stan Ternat offered a three-month deal.
But Moore has made a remarkable impact at the club, scoring three times in eight games and helping them to establish a five-point lead at the top of the table.
Roddy Collins has made a bid for highly rated Derry City defender Darren Kelly but City manager Kevin Mahon insists that the Northern Ireland under-21 international, who recently signed a three-year deal with the Brandywell club, will not be leaving.
The offer is reported to be worth around £100,000 but Mahon says that Kelly has attracted interest from Premiership clubs and has made it clear that he has no intention of leaving unless it is for a club in the top two English divisions.
Galway United have renewed their interest in Cork City's Mark Herrick. The club had shown interest in signing the 27-year-old last week but nothing came of it but the midfielder appears to have confirmed his willingness to move and a deal my now be concluded before the weekend.
Bray Wanderers have made some changes to their backroom team with under-21 manager Lar Mahoney taking over as first team coach, long time Arklow Town manager and 1990 FAI Cup finalist John Finnegan replacing Mahoney with the under-21s and Eddie Wallace returning as technical adviser and chief scout.
