SOCCER: As a good portion of the Irish squad for this Wednesday's friendly against Greece fell victim to an epidemic of minor injuries and informed Don Givens that they would not be fit to travel, David Connolly made it clear to the caretaker manager that having been left out of the original squad he simply wasn't inclined to answer the late call-up he received yesterday.

The original decision by Givens last week to omit the 25 year-old Wimbledon striker had been something of a surprise given the player's form of late for the London club. It was comfortably overshadowed last night, however, by Connolly's blunt refusal to join up with a squad that has lost 10 players, nine of them well-established, over the past 48 hours.

"I'm very disappointed with anybody who turns down his country," said Givens last night. "Whether it affects his international future or not has very little to do with me, I've made it clear that this is just a one off for me but I don't think it's the sort of thing that would look good on anybody's record."

Connolly's decision is all the more remarkable given that he would have been virtually guaranteed a start in Athens after all of the squad's other regular strikers, Clinton Morrison (groin), Robbie Keane (shoulder), Damien Duff (calf) and even Kevin Kilbane (shoulder) withdrew from the travelling party. Of those that remain only Gary Doherty has much experience of playing as an out and out attacker and it now seems that Glen Crowe of Bohemians may partner him up front at the start of Wednesday's match.

Crowe, who would be the first Eircom League player since Pat Byrne 16 years ago to be capped at senior level if he features, was one of four players who answered the call in the wake of withdrawals which also included Steve Carr, Gary Kelly, Ian Harte (all calf injuries), Mark Kinsella (ear infection), Graham Barrett (knee) and Andy O'Brien (family commitments). Mark Kennedy had already made it clear that he would not be travelling so soon after returning from a long lay-off.

In the circumstances, Connolly might well have simply informed Givens that he, too, was carrying a knock and could not make it but Givens was clear last night that the striker, who has scored nine goals in seven games for Wimbledon since returning from injury recently, would be absent, "because he hadn't been included in the squad the first time around".

Also included now in what was scheduled last night to be a group of 18 flying out this morning are Wesley Houlihan of Shelbourne as well as Coventry City pair Barry Quinn and Richie Partridge. With six players, including John O'Shea, Matt Holland and Gary Breen still not having arrived by early evening yesterday, Givens wasn't ruling out the possibility of having to cope with even fewer than that but, he said, "you have to get on with it and I still think it's a useful exercise and try telling the lads who will get their chance that it's lost its meaning."

Having had to cancel training yesterday, though, because only six players had arrived, the build-up so far can have done little to persuade Givens that he made a mistake by so quickly ruling himself out of the race to succeed Mick McCarthy.

REVISED SQUAD: Given (Newcastle), Kiely (Charlton), Colgan (Hibernian), Finnan (Fulham), O'Shea (Manchester Utd), Dunne (Manchester City), Doherty (Tottenham), Breen (West Ham), Cunningham (Birmingham City), Delap (Southampton), Holland (Ipswich), Carsley (Everton), McPhail (Leeds United), Healy (Celtic), Houlihan (Shelbourne), Partridge (Coventry), Quinn (Coventry), Crowe (Bohemians).