With eight games remaining in World Cup qualification, Republic of Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni has opted to take the opportunity to assess the progress of his squad's back-up players. The Italian today named a 22-man squad of mostly peripheral figures for a friendly against Nottingham Forest at Dalymount next month, six days before the visit of Cyrpus to Croke Park on October 15th.

The game will serve as opportunity for the manager to get to know some fringe players he has not yet seen and to be reacquainted with some who accompanied him on a post-season training camp to Portugal but have not featured since.

Some - Alex Bruce, Andy Keogh and Shane Long - were part of the senior squad for the qualifiers against Georgia and Montenegro earlier this month, while others, like Joe Murphy, Kieren Westwood, Kevin Foley, Darren O'Dea, Darren Potter, Wes Hoolahan, Martin Rowlands, Owen Garvan and Sean Scannell, were in Portugal in May.

There are also places for Sunderland striker Anthony Stokes, whose late double on Tuesday night helped his side avoid a Carling Cup shock at the hands of League One Northampton, Stoke's Liam Lawrence and Blackburn trio Eddie Nolan, Keith Treacy and Keith Andrews.

The latter recently moved from MK Dons to rejoin former manager Paul Ince at Blackburn Rovers.

Keogh's inclusion is a curious one given the striker's emergence under Trapattoni. The Wolves player scored while in Portugal and also got a late equaliser against Serbia in a Croke Park friendly.

He has been a player that the Italian has not been afraid to use, unlike Sunderland's Andy Reid who is omitted from the squad, and was a late substitute in the 2-1 win over Georgia in Mainz.

"This game will give me an important opportunity to work closely with many of our talented players," Trapattoni said today. "We have another eight games ahead of us in our challenge for World Cup qualification, and I have no doubt that some of this squad will be called upon to play their part.

"I want to thank our scouting team and our Under-21 manager Don Givens for identifying many new players who are performing well this year.

"I have already worked with some of this squad during our time in Portugal and I look forward to working with those I have not already seen.

"The October 9th game will form part of an important build-up to our first home World Cup qualifier match against Cyprus the following week."

Squad: Joe Murphy (Scunthorpe), Keiren Westwood (Coventry), Kevin Foley (Wolves), Alex Bruce (Ipswich), Darren O'Dea (Celtic), Stephen Ward (Wolves), Paddy McCarthy (Crystal Palace), Eddie Nolan (Blackburn), Andy Keogh (Wolves), Darron Gibson (Manchester United), Darren Potter (Wolves), Wes Hoolahan (Norwich), Martin Rowlands (QPR), Owen Garvan (Ipswich), Shane Long (Reading), Caleb Folan (Hull), Sean Scannell (Crystal Palace), Noel Hunt (Reading), Liam Lawrence (Stoke), Keith Treacy (Blackburn), Keith Andrews (Blackburn), Anthony Stokes (Sunderland).