Soccer:Giovanni Trapattoni may have to plan for the Euro 2012 qualifier against Macedonia without Richard Dunne as well as Shay Given after the Aston Villa defender was ruled out for up to a month.

Central defender Dunne suffered a shoulder injury during Villa's 3-0 defeat against Manchester City in the FA Cup on Wednesday.

"Unfortunately, we're going to lose Richard Dune for three to four weeks with a shoulder problem,” Villa boss Gerard Houllier confirmed today. "The good thing is, we haven't got many games during that period."

Crucially for the Republic of Ireland, however, the match against Macedonia on Saturday March 26th at the Aviva Stadium is just three weeks away, meaning Dunne faces a race against time to claim his place in the centre of defence.

Should he not recover in time, he will join Given on the sidelines, after the goalkeeper was ruled out of the game with his own shoulder injury.

John O’Shea would be a likely replacement alongside Seán St Ledger, leaving the right-back slot up for grabs.