Soccer

Trapattoni likely to select from fully fit squad

Giovanni Trapattoni looks to be in a position to field an unchanged side from the one that beat Georgia when Ireland take on …

Mon Sept 08 2008 - 01:00

Giovanni Trapattoni looks to be in a position to field an unchanged side from the one that beat Georgia when Ireland take on Montenegro on Wednesday.

Midfielder Steven Reid today sat out the team's last training session before flying out to Podgorica as a precaution and is expected to be fit. Shay Given, Kevin Doyle and Stephen Hunt - who were all minor doubts - trained today and are fit for selection.

After Kevin Kilbane reported no problems after playing with a mask to protect a fractured cheekbone in Saturday's 2-1 victory over Georgia, it looks as though the Ireland boss, who experienced his first competitive match in the role on Saturday, will have the ratrwe luxury of selecting form a fuly fit squad.

Reid's injury will be examined again before training tomorrow and it is hoped he will be cleared to take a full part.

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While one of the world's newest soccer nations - Montenegro only declared independence in 2006 - the team is made up of players plying their trade throughout professional leagues in Europe including the Serie A and Bundesliga.

They have recorded victories against Hungary and Norway and drew with Bulgaria on Saturday in their opening World Cup qualifier.

Trapattoni believes Montenegro are a good team but this is another game, which - on paper - Ireland should win. And Richard Dunne believes the slip-ups of the past can be averted thanks to the Italian's system.

"We should have been going to places like Cyprus and winning last time around but it didn't turn out that way. It just put everybody on a downer. Then we were playing catch-up and could never really recover from it."

"The system," he says, "gives the defence a lot of cover, so when the two centre backs or full-backs have the ball it's a simple pass for us really. We can just concentrate on the defending and it does benefit us, especially in tough away games," the stalwart centre back said today.

IRELAND SQUAD

Goalkeepers:Shay Given (Newcastle United), Dean Kiely (West Brom)

Defenders:Alex Bruce (Ipswich Town), Damien Delaney (QPR), Richard Dunne (Manchester City) , Steve Finnan (Espanyol), Stephen Kelly (Birmingham City), Kevin Kilbane (Wigan Athletic), Joey O'Brien (Bolton Wanderers), John O'Shea (Manchester United), Paul McShane (Sunderland)

Midfielders:Stephen Hunt (Reading), Aiden McGeady (Glasgow Celtic), Liam Miller (Sunderland), Andy Reid (Sunderland), Steven Reid (Blackburn Rovers), Glenn Whelan (Stoke City)

Attackers:Kevin Doyle (Reading), Robbie Keane (Liverpool), Andy Keogh (Wolves)
Shane Long (Reading), Daryl Murphy (Sunderland).