WORLD RANKINGS: The Republic of Ireland continue to climb the Fifa world rankings under Giovanni Trapattoni's stewardship. Ireland moved up three places to 26th when the latest edition was released this morning.

Ireland had been ranked 42nd when the Italian took charge at the start of last year but the unbeaten World Cup qualifying run has seen the side moving in the right direction. Last month’s 2-1 win over Georgia keeps Ireland level on points with Italy at the top of Group Eight.

Bulgaria are next up for Trapattoni’s World Cup hopefuls and despite a decidedly average start to their campaign Damien Duff is not expecting an easy ride at Croke Park.

With only three draws from their first three matches, Stanimir Stoilov replaced Plamen Markov at the helm in January in an effort to revive their fortunes.

“They have world class players such as Dimitar Berbatov, Stiliyan Petrov and Martin Petrov,” said the Newcastle winger. “I know that they will be disappointed with their opening three games in this campaign so they will be looking to kick-start their qualification bid under their new manager.

“If we beat them, that will put us in a position where we are ten points ahead of them in the table. From that point of view it is a massive game for us.”

England, meanwhile, have slipped a place to ninth in the Fifa standings following their 2-0 friendly loss in Spain last month.

Turkey have also dropped one place to 11th, having been overtaken by Portugal, while Spain remain in top spot, leading Germany by 300 points.

Northern Ireland are one of the bigger movers in the table after leaping seven places and are now joint 42nd with Iran. Elsewhere, Wales drop three positions to 68th after being overtaken by Algeria, Venezuela and Bahrain.