MARY HANNIGANhas a quick scan at the prospects for Giovanni Trapattoni's men in the new season

WHILE IT might not have been the most eventful of summers on the transfer front for Republic of Ireland players, the promotion of Wolves, Birmingham and Burnley, along with the return to the English Premier League of Kevin Doyle, Stephen Hunt and Steve Finnan, means Giovanni Trapattoni has a healthy supply of top-flight players to choose from.

With three World Cup qualifying games looming – and, possibly, a place in the play-offs after that – what the manager could do without is having a chunk of his preferred players reduced to bench duty for their clubs early in the season.

Perhaps only three of his starting line-up from Wednesday’s defeat to Australia – Shay Given, Robbie Keane and Doyle – are likely or certain starters for their clubs, with Richard Dunne, Kevin Kilbane, Glenn Whelan and Darron Gibson less sure of how much first-team action they will see.

A year ago Dunne, at that stage the nigh on perennial winner of Manchester City’s player of the season award, would have been as certain of his place in his club’s starting line-up as Given was at Newcastle, but, as we know, things have changed dramatically at City.

Mark Hughes’ purchase of Kolo Toure from Arsenal and his relentless pursuit of Everton’s Joleon Lescott (and, before that, John Terry) doesn’t bode well for Dunne, who spent much of his summer denying he was on the verge of a move to Sunderland, Spurs and Wolves, to name three.

So critical is Dunne’s form – and match-fitness – to Ireland’s defence, the prospect of him playing a bit part in City’s campaign is not a happy one. But, if given the opportunity to reproduce the form he habitually displayed before last season’s blip, he might yet convince Hughes he is worthy of a place alongside the Mancunian Galacticos.

Fitness permitting, Given should be ever-present in the City side. As for Dunne’s and Given’s team-mate, we will wait to see if Bertie Ahern’s plea for his return has stirred the soul of Stephen Ireland.

After an injury-plagued season with Espanyol, Steve Finnan will hope for a change of fortune on his return to England at Portsmouth, with the full-back giving Trapattoni another option – should he stay fit.

Where John O’Shea plays in the Irish back four could partly be determined by Finnan’s return (and whether Seán St Ledger holds on to his place alongside Dunne), but right-back remains the position the Waterford man is likely to fill at club level.

Last season was O’Shea’s most impressive since he first broke through at United in 2002, and while Rafael da Silva and Wes Brown (less so the ageing Gary Neville) will challenge for that right-back slot, O’Shea is, for now, the man in possession.

Darron Gibson’s first-team prospects at United are less certain, even if Alex Ferguson showed his faith in the 21-year-old by rewarding him with a three-year extension to his contract this summer. Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes are unlikely to feature week-in, week-out, and Owen Hargreaves continues to battle with injury, leaving Anderson, Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher as Gibson’s chief rivals for a place in the United midfield.

Stephen Hunt’s arrival at Hull City won’t have helped Kevin Kilbane’s first-team prospects this season, as his less than successful spell filling in at left-back for his club in the last campaign is unlikely to be replicated. From the moment Reading were relegated two seasons ago Hunt has been pining for a return to the Premier League – now he has his chance to show it’s where he belongs. Caleb Folan completes the Irish triumvirate at the club.

There is plenty of Irish interest too at Birmingham City, with old-boys Stephen Carr and Lee Carsley returning to the Premier League, while the more youthful Keith Fahey, who impressed last season after joining from St Patrick’s Athletic, and Jay O’Shea, signed from Galway United earlier this month, will be hoping to make an impression.

With Anthony Stokes and Roy O’Donovan not given first-team squad numbers this summer, the senior Irish contingent at Sunderland is likely to be reduced to Paul McShane, Andy Reid and Daryl Murphy – how they will fare under new manager Steve Bruce, who has been busy on the transfer front, remains to be seen.

After a spell on loan at Stoke City last season Stephen Kelly joined Fulham this summer, where he will hope to prosper under the wily Roy Hodgson.

Meanwhile, at Blackburn, Keith Andrews will wait to see how Sam Allardyce’s summer shopping will effect his chances of holding on to his place in midfield, where he did well last season after Paul Ince brought the Dubliner with him from MK Dons. Stephen Reid is desperately overdue an injury-free season, one that would almost certainly see him return to the Irish midfield.

Glenn Whelan, Liam Lawrence and Rory Delap should feature prominently in Stoke’s attempts to repeat their heroics of last season, while the two O’Briens, Joey and Andy, will be doing their bit at Bolton.

Trapattoni is likely to be seeing a lot of Wolves this season, live or on DVD, with Kevin Doyle, Kevin Foley, Andy Keogh and Stephen Ward all in the first-team squad.

He might drop in on Burnley, too, to have a look at midfielder Chris McCann, the club’s young player of the year for the past two seasons. The Dubliner signed a new two-year deal yesterday and is highly regarded by manager Owen Coyle.

Down south, Robbie Keane might have done a little head-scratching when played in midfield by Harry Redknapp in a pre-season friendly, and while offering the obligatory “I’m happy to play anywhere the manager asks me to play”, he must surely hope he can hold off the challenge of at least one of Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko to fill a more customary role for the London side.

Elsewhere, Seamus Coleman (Everton), Aaron Doran (Blackburn) and Marc Wilson (Portsmouth) are three of the younger Irish crew worth monitoring this season, all of them well thought of at their clubs.

Plenty of interest, then, for Trapattoni in this season’s Premier League, with Damien Duff adding to the list if his move to Fulham goes through. Whether a selection of these players will be spending a month in South Africa next summer . . . well, we’ll see.