Soccer:Newcastle boss Alan Pardew has told Republic of Ireland counterpart Giovanni Trapattoni he might be surprised by in-form striker Leon Best. Best was notable by his absence from the Ireland squad for the recent qualifiers against Andorra and Armenia despite having scored three times already in his club's fine start to the league campaign.

Asked about Best in Dublin last week, Trapattoni insisted he had not forgotten him, but having watched him play in Newcastle’s 2-1 win at Wolves a couple of days earlier, said he needed to work harder for his team before he was recalled to the international stage.

That came as something of a surprise to Pardew, who has recommended the 25-year-old to the veteran Italian as he begins preparations for next month’s Euro 2012 play-off against Estonia with Kevin Doyle suspended and Robbie Keane facing a race against time to be fit.

Pardew said of Trapattoni‘s assessment of Best: “That did surprise me. I thought he played very, very well that day [at Wolves] and I thought he worked very hard for the team. We have got contrasting views on that, and I think if he picked Leon Best, he might be surprised.

“They have got some good strikers, to be fair to the manager, and he picks who he wants. But in my book at the moment, Leon Best is playing very, very well and working hard.”