Manchester City defender Richard Dunne has been recalled to the Republic of Ireland squad for the vital Group Four World Cup qualifying games against France and the Faroe Islands.
Manager Brian Kerr's Republic face the French in Paris on October 9th and then the Faroe Islands on October 13th at Lansdowne Road.
Kerr has also included Charlton midfielder Matt Holland even though he has not played for his club since the first day of the season when he picked up a knee injury in the Premiership defeat at Bolton.
Dropped from the 24-man squad are Leicester striker David Connolly and Southampton utility man Rory Delap who were included for the opening World Cup qualifiers against Cyprus and Switzerland earlier this month.
Dunne, scorer of four goals for his country, won the last of his 20 caps in the 3-0 victory over Canada at Lansdowne on November 18th last year. Since then he has missed a further eight friendly games as well as the opening World Cup matches against the Cypriots and Swiss.
During the close season the Dubliner had an operation on a hernia injury and since his return to club football he has earned the plaudits of City boss Kevin Keegan.
"It was frustrating being out of the squad for so long," said Dunne. "But Mr Keegan told me that if I persevered an international recall would be on the cards sooner rather than later. I am glad he has been proved right."
Kerr will be keeping his fingers crossed that Holland, who played two reserve games for Charlton at the weekend, will be available to partner Manchester United's Roy Keane in midfield.
The Republic started their campaign with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Cyprus in Dublin followed by a 1-1 draw with Switzerland in Basel.
In contrast, group favourites France were held to a surprise scoreless draw by Israel in Paris and then recorded an unconvincing 2-0 away win over the rank outsiders from the Faroes.
Arsenal's Patrick Vieira was shown the red card against the Faroes so he misses the clash with the Irish in France at the 80,000-capacity Stade de France on Saturday week, with over 25,000 Republic fans expected to make the journey.
France have also lost midfielder Benoit Pedretti because of injury while big names such as Zinedine Zidane, Claude Makelele, Lilian Thuran and Bixente Lizarazu have all announced their retirement from international football.
Kerr said: "I won't be fooled by all that. France are still one of the top nations in Europe as the performances by their clubs in both the Champions League and UEFA Cup in recent years have proved.
"New national team boss Raymond Domenech has taken over from Jacques Santini. He has worked with the French under-age squads over the years and there is a conveyor-belt of talent there. We face a tough task in Paris."
Northern Ireland, meanwhile, have omitted Keith Gillespie from their squad to face Azerbaijan and Austria.
Republic of Ireland squad:
Goalkeepers:Shay Given (Newcastle), Paddy Kenny (Sheffield United), Nick Colgan (Barnsley)
Defenders:Stephen Carr, Andy O'Brien (both Newcastle), Kenny Cunningham (Birmingham), Alan Maybury (Hearts), Richard Dunne (Manchester City), Gary Breen (Sunderland), John O'Shea (Manchester United), Steve Finnan (Liverpool)
Midfielders:Andy Reid (Nottingham Forest), Matt Holland (Charlton), Roy Keane (Manchester United), Kevin Kilbane (Everton), Liam Miller (Manchester United), Graham Kavanagh (Cardiff City), Alan Quinn (Sheffield United), Graham Barrett (Coventry City)
Forwards:Damien Duff (Chelsea), Gary Doherty (Norwich), Alan Lee (Cardiff City), Clinton Morrison (Birmingham), Robbie Keane (Tottenham)
(PA)