Manchester United captain Roy Keane has been ruled out for at least two weeks with a hamstring injury.
The 33-year-old suffered a recurrence of the injury which had originally kept him out of United's pre-season tour to the Far East when he was introduced as a substitute in the latter stages of Saturday's Manchester derby at Old Trafford.
Keane felt the problem again in training on Tuesday and was immediately withdrawn from last night's squad against Villarreal.
Although Keane is suspended for Ireland's next World Cup qualifier away to Cyprus on October 8th if the injury is slow to heal he could be doubtful for the make-or-break game with Switzerland on October 12th.
In the latest Fifa world rankings the Republic of Ireland fell seven places to 21st after last week's 1-0 defeat to France. England's embarrassing defeat to Northern Ireland has cost them their place in the top 10 as they slip from seventh to 11th. In contrast, Northern Ireland shot up 15 places to 101st. Similarly, Scotland's creditable draw with Italy and victory over Norway in the World Cup qualifiers saw them rise 12 places to 74th.
Brazil continue to top the rankings, followed by Holland, Argentina, Czech Republic and Mexico.
Newcastle manager Graeme Souness has been dealt another major injury blow after it was confirmed £9.5 million signing Albert Luque could be out of action for two months.
A scan on the former Deportivo La Coruna forward's hamstring injury, which ended his participation in the 1-1 home draw with Fulham, has revealed the full extent of the damage and he could now be missing for between eight and 10 weeks.
Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers have both been fined by the Eircom League over the behaviour of their fans at the recent Dublin derby games that were the subject of an investigation carried out by Des Casey, Paddy McCaul and Eamon Naughton, writes Emmet Malone.
Bohemians have been fined €3,000 for the club's failure to provide more effective stewarding at the game with Shelbourne on May 27th and for the use of flares by fans who targeted several of the club's former players, including Glen Crowe, for abuse during the match.
Rovers, meanwhile, have had two fines of €1,000 imposed as a result of problems caused by a number of supporters during the game with Bohemians on June 3rd and the one against Shelbourne two weeks later. Both clubs were due to discuss the sanctions at board meetings last night and may yet appeal.
