Pilkington in Irish squad as Ward misses out

Anthony Pilkington, Damien Delaney and Aiden McGeady have been included in Giovanni Trapattoni’s 28-man squad for the upcoming games against England, Georgia, Faroe Islands and Spain.

Trapattoni was at Carrow Road yesterday to see Norwich dispatch of West Bromwich Albion with some ease, and admitted he was impressed with Pilkington’s contribution. The midfielder is to wed over the coming weeks but will be available for the game in Wembley on May 29^th.

Among those to miss out are the injured trio of Kevin Doyle, Ciaran Clark and Richard Dunne, as well as the out of favour Stephen Ward. Dunne has not played for Ireland since the European Championships almost a year ago but Trapattoni says that he is always a welcome influence around the squad.

“I spoke with him and asked him – if you can play one or two games in the league because I wish to see you. He started training last week. His club must tell us about his injury, we need the permission. If there is an agreement he could come in and train with us.”

Conor Sammon, Wes Hoolahan and David Forde are among the strong former League of Ireland contingent in the squad, but there is no place for ex St. Pats star Keith Fahey who was recently released by Birmingham City after four years at the club.

One midfielder who is in the squad is James McCarthy who helped his Wigan side win the FA Cup on Saturday evening. McCarthy has impressed in his outings for the boys in green and Trapattoni says he can be world class if he can add that bit of maturity to his performance.

“He’s still a little bit shy, he has to be more confident but he has a good quality and a good vision and can shoot well. I think in the future he can achieve a name like the great English players like (Steven) Gerrard”.

McCarthy and Shane Long will miss the Faroe Islands qualifiers due to suspension, but Robbie Keane is available after missing some time over the last while with injury. The manager says Keane’s fitness will be fully assessed on arrival in Dublin.

The Italian was quick to quell any rumours that he is interested in taking up a managerial role in Napoli.

“Tomorrow only God knows what can happen, in this moment my engage is Ireland. It’s only speculation.”

When asked about complacency after a long season, Trapattoni recalled his own end of season experiences as a player and the feeling that passion to play overcomes any tiredness that may linger.

“I remember this moment, I know many players wish to go on holidays, in England they have a long season, the commitments that they have. You must be proud to put on the shirt, the players must be proud to be an Irish player.”

The squad will meet up next week before travelling to the Colney base in Watford where they will train in the days leading up to the England game on May 29^th.

The squad in full is: