IRELAND MANAGER Giovanni Trapattoni will wait until tomorrow before deciding whether Shay Given and John O’Shea are fit enough to make the squad for Euro 2012.
Trapattoni must submit his final 23-man group on Tuesday and he is determined to ensure Aston Villa goalkeeper Given and Sunderland defender O’Shea are in the right condition to feature in Poland.
Both are due to resume training at Ireland’s training camp in Montecatini in Italy this week after knee and ankle injuries respectively but, while Trapattoni is confident they will make the squad, Paul McShane will travel as cover for O’Shea and Kevin Foley, who is recovering from a hamstring strain.
Trapattoni, whose side warmed up for the tournament with a 1-0 friendly win over Bosnia in Dublin yesterday, said: “They will have to show us on Monday they are ready. Richard Dunne showed that to us on Friday after his injury.”
Good spirits
Aside from the injuries, Trapattoni and his players will head to their training camp in good spirits after Shane Long’s 78th minute header secured a well-deserved victory over the Bosnians.
Ireland were denied by both the post and the crossbar as first Aiden McGeady and then Jon Walters, both half-time substitutes, went close, while Asmir Begovic produced fine saves to deny both Walters and Long in a strong finish by the Irish.
“We had more opportunities, more shots around the box and also more corners and we deserved to win a very important game,” Trapattoni said.
“We also made two little mistakes and they could have scored a goal. But we played well, with a good attitude, mentality and performance.”