Soccer

Hunt comes in for McGeady

Soccer: Stephen Hunt has been named in the Republic of Ireland starting line-up for the second leg of the Euro 2012 play-offs…

Stephen Hunt is brought down by Estonia’s Ats Purje for a penalty after coming on as a substitute in Tallinn last Friday night. Photograph: Jamie McDonald/Getty Images
Stephen Hunt is brought down by Estonia’s Ats Purje for a penalty after coming on as a substitute in Tallinn last Friday night. Photograph: Jamie McDonald/Getty Images
Mon Nov 14 2011 - 00:00

Soccer:Stephen Hunt has been named in the Republic of Ireland starting line-up for the second leg of the Euro 2012 play-offs against Estonia tomorrow night. Giovanni Trapattoni has made three changes to the side that won 4-0 last Friday with John O'Shea and Kevin Doyle also coming in.

Hunt will start on the left win in place of Aiden McGeady, who might consider himself unfortunate to miss out after one of his better performances in an Irish shirt in Tallinn.

McGeady gave his marker, the unfortunate Enaar Jaager, a torrid evening in Estonia, providing the left-wing cross from which Keith Andrews headed the visitors in front, and then forcing the save from Pareiko which allowed Jon Walters to make it 2-0.

O’Shea was always likely to return for the second leg after recovering from a hamstring injury but the groin strain picked up by Stephen Kelly guaranteed his selection. Doyle, ruled out of the away game through suspension, was also likely to start ahead of Jonathan Walters.

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Robbie Keane revealed at this evening’s pre-match press briefing that the LA Galaxy, assuming qualification for Poland and Ukraine was now assured, had requested he return to California after the 4-0 win in Tallinn.

The Galaxy are due to meet Houston Dynamo in the MLS Cup final this Sunday, and manager Bruce Arena had asked the FAI if Keane might be released early, but the Dubliner had no intention of leaving until the job was complete.

“They (the FAI) said I could go if I wanted, but I said no,” he explained. “It’s still only half-time and we have to be professional. I want the job to be done. This could be one of the special moments in Irish football history and I wouldn’t want to miss that.”

It was a stance endorsed by his manager, with Trapattoni adding: “With commitment like this, even in the tournament finals, this is a team I can believe in.”

Despite Ireland’s overwhelming advantage, the Italian once again sounded a note of caution insisting the players were taking nothing for granted at this stage.

“The qualifier is not finished. We haven’t achieved our goal yet and if we go out onto the pitch with the wrong mentality it could be more difficult to achieve the result we want.”

Republic of Ireland:Shay Given (Aston Villa); John O'Shea (Sunderland), Richard Dunne (Aston Villa), Sean St Ledger (Leicester City), Stephen Ward (Wolverhampton Wanderers); Damien Duff (Fulham), Glenn Whelan (Stoke City), Keith Andrews (Ipswich Town), Stephen Hunt (Wolverhampton Wanderers); Kevin Doyle (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy).

Estonia(probable): Pavel Londak (Bobo Glimt); Enar Jaager (Aalesunds), Taavi Rahan (Tianjin Songjiang), Ragnar Klavan (AZ Alkmaar), Dmitri Kruglov (Rostov); Taijo Teniste (Sogndal), Martin Vunk (Famagusta), Konstantin Vassiljev (Amkar Perm), Joel Lindpere (New York Red Bulls); Kaimar Saag (Silkborg), Vladimir Voskoboinikov (Himki).