Rep. of Ireland -v- Armenia

Ireland take on Armenia on Tuesday at the Aviva Stadium in a game Giovanni Trapattoni’s men cannot afford to lose if they want to make it to the European Championships next summer in Poland and the Ukraine.  (kick-off 6.45)

The Boys in Green go into Tuesday’s final Group B encounter with a clear message: avoid defeat. If they can do that, they will be in the draw for the play-offs.

Ireland could still top the group but for that to happen it would be something of a footballing miracle – Ireland would have to win and hope Andorra can record a first competitive win since 2006 away to Russia.

The Ireland camp was rocked during the week with the news that captain Robbie Keane will miss the game with an abductor muscle injury he picked up in Friday's 2-0 win over Andorra .

Simon Cox will be the man to replace Keane up-front, he gets the nod ahead of West Brom team-mate Shane Long.

Speaking on the selection of Cox instead of Long the Ireland boss said: “He is not Keane, but he is similar to Keane.

"Long has different qualities - he is fast and maybe he will be better when the opponents are a little bit tired."

Trapattoni welcomes back Richard Dunne from injury while Stephen Ward will miss the game through suspension. Shay Given will captain the squad.

Ireland have already beat Armenia in this qualifying group. They won 1-0 in Armeina back in September but Vardan Minasyan’s men have come a long way since then.

The Armenians are in red hot form having won their last three games, scoring a whopping 11 goals in the process but Trapattoni says he is not surprised.

"If you know the players who play for Armenia, it is not a surprise. Armenia is a very, very strong team. They have scored more goals than us and we must pay very, very much attention."

Minasyan’s has a relatively full squad to choose from but will be without the injured Robert Arzumanyan, but defender Hrayr Mkoyan will be back from suspension.

Ireland team: Given (capt), O'Shea, Dunne, St Ledger, S Kelly, McGeady, Whelan, Andrews, Duff, Doyle, Cox.