Giovanni Trapattoni is set to make another attempt to involve Anthony Pilkington in the Republic of Ireland set-up this morning when the Italian names his squad for the games against England, Georgia, the Faroe Islands and Spain after watching the midfielder in action for Norwich yesterday.
Trapattoni will be in Carrick-on-Shannon for the announcement which is expected to involve a list of players long enough to allow for withdrawals. Keith Andrews is already gone with an Achilles problem while there are doubts about other established players, most notably Glenn Whelan who missed Stoke’s defeat by Tottenham yesterday due to a knee injury.
By and large, it was a good day for the Ireland boss with Marc Wilson, Séamus Coleman, Jon Walters, John O’Shea and James McClean all starting for their clubs.
Pilkington played for Norwich in their 4-0 drubbing of West Brom in which other likely members of Ireland's travelling party – Wes Hoolahan and Shane Long – also featured.
Complicated
Trapattoni seems certain to include the 24-year-old in his squad but the situation is complicated somewhat by the fact the player is due to get married two days after the England game and two before the friendly against Georgia.
Also expected to be included are Hull’s promotion winning players Paul McShane, David Meyler and Robbie Brady but a good deal of interest will focus on what Trapattoni expects of senior players given only one of the games is actually a qualifier.
Robbie Keane missed LA Galaxy’s defeat by Vancouver Whitecaps, for whom Andy O’Brien played 90 minutes, but is expected to feature in Wednesday’s game with Philadelphia after sitting out three games with an ankle injury.
Another point of interest is will any new players make the squad with goalkeepers Mark Bunn of Norwich and Newcastle’s Rob Elliott amongst the more prominent contenders.
Trapattoni, meanwhile, has declined to rule himself out of the running for the Napoli job. Asked about the idea of returning to Serie A club management Trapattoni told Italian newspaper
Il Mattino
: "I always want to win. Even returning to a Serie A side like Napoli – why not? Everyone knows my motto: never say never in football."
Raheny United have won the
Women’s National League following a 3-0 defeat of Wexford Youths at Morton Stadium thanks to two goals from Katie McCabe and one from Rebecca Creagh.
The Ireland under-16s kicked off their Uefa development tournament campaign in Dublin yesterday with a 1-0 win over Germany. Ireland’s winning goal was scored after 13 minutes by Derek Daly
.
