SOCCER:Manchester City midfielder Stephen Ireland flew home yesterday following a bereavement. The 21-year-old Corkman, who scored the first goal of Saturday's 2-2 draw in Slovakia, will not be available for Wednesday's Group D qualifier against the Czech Republic in Prague.

In a statement issued by the FAI last night, players, management and officials expressed their sympathies.

Staunton said he would wait until today before making a decision on whether to call any replacements into the squad ahead of the meeting with the Czechs.

The loss of Ireland is a major blow to Staunton; the player, who made his senior debut only last March in the friendly win over Sweden, had become an important figure in the team. His goal on Saturday was his fourth in six competitive games, and two of those were match winners.

Staunton had already suggested he would make changes to his midfield to face the Czechs, with Stephen Hunt and Andy Reid strongly in contention to start despite both having been left on the bench in Bratislava, where the Irish led twice.

His decision on whether to call up anyone will be influenced by the news on Steve Finnan and Darren Potter, both of whom stayed with their clubs late last week to receive treatment on knee and groin injuries respectively.

It is unclear whether either will be fit to join the squad today but Staunton was pessimistic when asked about the Liverpool defender.

"It wasn't looking good on Friday," admitted the manager. "We'll know more on Monday but I would say he is very doubtful."

None of the players on bookings picked up additional yellow cards so there are no suspensions and there appeared to be only a few minor knocks among those who played. The 10 squad members who didn't feature on Saturday trained yesterday morning prior to flying and the entire squad will have a first run-out in the Czech capital this morning.

Despite the disappointment of seeing his team concede a costly late goal on Saturday, Staunton refused even to concede the outcome had been a poor one. "I wouldn't say it's a bad result," he said. "We're still on course. We want to win every game and at least now we know we have to beat the Czechs."

Over the weekend, Germany moved a big step closer to wrapping up the top spot with a 2-0 win over Wales in Cardiff and the Czech's warmed up for Wednesday with a 3-0 victory in San Marino. The points did come at a cost to Karel Bruckner's side, Jan Koller, the giant striker who scored the third goal on Saturday evening and the equaliser in last year's draw at Lansdowne Road, got a yellow card that rules him out for Wednesday.