Soccer:Richard Dunne sat out Republic of Ireland training for the second morning running at Malahide earlier today, but assistant manager Marco Tardelli and Dunne's defensive partner Seán St Ledger remain convinced he will be fit for action come Friday evening.
Dunne continues to nurse a knee injury that has limited his involvement for Aston Villa in recent weeks, and missed training again this morning in order to have a scan on the injury.
Those results came back clear and the FAI announced this evening that the Dubliner will be fit to resume training when the squad finalise their preparations tomorrow morning.
While Irish fans may be fretting on Dunne’s availability against Russia at the Aviva Stadium (Friday, 7.45pm) and Slovakia the following Tuesday, St Ledger has no such concerns.
“Richard is a vital part of what we are trying to achieve,” the Preston man told reporters after training. “I haven’t spoken to him to see how he is yet but I am sure he will be fit for Friday.”
Dunne’s presence has helped St Ledger blossom at international level and the pair have struck up an impressive understanding. With both operating at the heart of the Irish defence, Giovanni Trapattoni’s side have conceded just seven goals in their last eight matches and St Ledger is quick to pay credit where it’s due.
“He has been brilliant since I first came in and I have a good partnership alongside him,” the 25-year-old explained. “He has the experience after so many years of playing in the Premier League and he has really helped me.
“He is a good talker and organiser and he has plenty of experience at this level, which is vital playing against some of the players we come up against.”
Although Roman Pavlyuchenko had been used sparingly by Russian coach Dick Advocaat, St Ledger was not sorry to see the Tottenham striker ruled out through injury yesterday.
Nevertheless, with the free-scoring Zenit hitman Aleksandr Kerzhakov and Stuttgart’s Pavel Pogrebnyak waiting in the wings, St Ledger is not expecting a comfortable evening.
“Obviously it is bad news for him, good news for us,” he added. “He (Pavlyuchenko) is one of the players we all know something about but we know they are still going to bring in someone with experience who will be a threat.
“He is going to be a big physical presence and it is going to be a tough physical game but we relish that kind of thing and we will both enjoy it if we are selected to play.”