Richard Dunne will take his spot at the heart of the Republic of Ireland defence against Poland tonight after flying back from Manchester this afternoon.

The Manchester City star had returned to England last night to be with his pregnant wife amid reports that she had gone into labour.

An FAI statement released at 4pm confirmed that Dunne has returned to Dublin and will take his place in Giovanni Trapattoni's starting line-up for tonight's game at Croke Park (8.0pm).

Republic of Ireland:S Given (Newcastle Utd, Capt); P McShane (Hull City), J O'Shea (Manchester Utd), R Dunne (Manchester City), K Kilbane (Wigan Athletic); A Keogh (Wolves), G Whelan (Stoke City), D Gibson (Manchester Utd), D Duff (Newcastle Utd); C Folan (Hull City), K Doyle (Reading).