Soccer: Shane Long will miss the republic of Ireland's Euro 2012 qualifier against Slovakia at the Aviva Stadium tonight after suffering a calf strain.
The striker’s place will be taken by his former Reading team-mate and Wolves forward Kevin Doyle, with Simon Cox and Andy Keogh available on the bench.
Long was something of a surprise inclusion in the team yesterday when he was selected ahead of Doyle, the regular partner for captain Robbie Keane up front. However, it will be the more familiar pairing after all, as Long looks to shake off this latest injury in time to play some part against Russia in Moscow on Tuesday.
Giovanni Trapattoni had opted for the West Brom forward after he began life back in the Premier League with goals against Man United and Chelsea in his first two games.
Doyle, he reasoned, might have been harbouring some "fear" from the knee injury he suffered on international duty towards the end of last season.
He and assistant boss Marco Tardelli watched the Wolves man play in last Saturday’s 0-0 derby draw at Aston Villa, and while he showed no ill-effects, the Italian wanted to see for himself if he has recovered psychologically.
“I wanted to see him to make sure there was no fear in his head about his injury," he said. "I don’t see any fear in him at all. I have no doubt I will have the opportunity to play him maybe in the second half, and he can also be ready for Russia.”
The former Cork City striker is arguably the most important player at Wolves' disposal and, in contrast to West Brom, their start has been nothing short of excellent with two wins and a draw leaving them fifth, level on points with Liverpool and Chelsea.
Tonight will also see the end to Kevin Kilbane's 66-game run in consecutive competitive games that stretches back to 1999. The veteran struggled with a back strain this week and will be replaced at left-back by Stephen Ward.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND:Given (Aston Villa); O'Shea (Sunderland), Dunne (Aston Villa), St Ledger (Leicester City), Ward (Wolves); Duff (Fulham), Andrews (Ipswich Town), Whelan (Stoke City), McGeady (Spartak Moscow); Keane (LA Galaxy), Doyle (Wolves).
SLOVAKIA (probable):Mucha (Everton); Pekarik (Kayerispor), Durica (Lokomotiv Moscow), Skrtel (Liverpool), Cech (Trabzonspor); Guede (Slovan Bratislava), Kucka (Inter); Weiss (Espanyol), Hamsik (Napoli), Jendrisek (Freiburg); Vittek (Ankaragucu).
Referee: Pedro Proenca (Portugal).
