McShane in as Foley misses out

Paul McShane has been named at number 13 in the Republic of Ireland squad for EURO 2012, which was this morning submitted to UEFA - as his dramatic rise to the 23-man panel was complete, at the expense of unfortunate Wolves defender Kevin Foley.

This evening, Ireland take on a Tuscan XI in Montecatini, Italy, and Giovanni Trapattoni had hinted yesterday that Foley was in line to start at right-back. However, the player won’t now feature having been cut from the 23.

Foley had been suffering from a groin injury, which forced him to miss Saturday’s 1-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in Dublin. It was a fight between Foley, McShane and John O’Shea - all of whom have been carrying knocks - for just two places. Experienced Sunderland player O’Shea, as expected, has been selected, and McShane has beaten Foley. The 26-year old cancelled a planned holiday last

week to join up with the squad and he played in Saturday’s game at The Aviva. McShane is also likely to feature in this evening’s warm-up game.

McShane was named as one of the five stand-by players when the squad was selected on May 7th. Another of those, Paul Green, was called in at the weekend, after Keith Fahey was forced to withdraw. O’Shea’s ankle injury means he is still the biggest worry and with McShane having played at right-back on Saturday, it’s not

inconceivable that the Hull City player could well be promoted to the first eleven were O’Shea’s fitness race to halt.

It’s heartache for Foley, however, and his omission brings back memories of Gary Waddock in 1990. Jack Charlton ended the Millwall player’s four-year international exile in 1989 and he was named in a 22-man squad for Italia ‘90 after playing in two warm-up matches against USSR and Turkey a fortnight before the tournament.

However, Big Jack called Alan McLoughlin in from the cold and someone had to make way. It was Waddock, who never played for Ireland again.

Waddock was given the chance of staying with the squad, an offer which has been extended to Foley also, with the manager keen to retain a plan B just in case of injury. UEFA rules permit that the squad can be altered, but only in the case of injury, right up to the day of Ireland’s Euro 2012 opener against Croatia on June 10.

“With the injuries that we experienced in the squad over the past week, I have had to make a tough decision when it comes to naming the 23 players that must be submitted to UEFA for the championship,” Trapattoni said this morning at the Borgo a Buggiano Stadium in Montecatini.

“Kevin Foley, John O’Shea, Paul McShane, Darren O’Dea, Shay Given had all been carrying knocks and we have been monitoring them closely in their recovery. Although Kevin has been recovering well, I have made the difficult decision to leave him out of the 23 player list after completing fitness tests on John O’Shea and Paul Mc Shane this morning. I have spoken to him and understand how difficult it is, saying that he can remain with the squad if he wishes.”

Despite Ireland’s players being given squad numbers, the Boys in Green will line out with the old fashioned numbers 1-11 if Trapattoni is able to name a full-strength team, though a slight positional alteration with the number 4, O’Shea, at right-back and number 2, Sean St Ledger, partnering Richard Dunne.

1 Shay Given

2 Sean St Ledger

3 Stephen Ward

4 John O’Shea

5 Richard Dunne

6 Glenn Whelan

7 Aiden McGeady

8 Keith Andrews

9 Kevin Doyle

10 Robbie Keane

11 Damien Duff

12 Stephen Kelly

13 Paul Mc Shane

14 Jonathan Walters

15 Darron Gibson

16 Keiren Westwood

17 Stephen Hunt

18 Darren O’Dea

19 Shane Long

20 Simon Cox

21 Paul Green

22 James McClean

23 David Forde