SOCCER: Rotherham striker Alan Lee and Alan Quinn of Sheffield Wednesday yesterday retained their places in the Irish senior international squad for this month's friendly against Norway at Lansdowne Road on April 30th. Emmet Malone, soccer correspondent, reports

The pair were named by manager Brian Kerr ahead of Mark Kennedy and Rory Delap, both of whom have recently returned from injury.

There is also a place in the panel for Bohemians striker Glen Crowe, whose goal against UCD last weekend confirmed his return to full fitness after the knee injury that had ruled him out of the last six weeks of last season.

With a number more established players in the initial squad of 24 expected to pull out over the coming week to 10 days due to a combination of injuries and pressure from clubs at what is a critical time of the season in England, Lee and Quinn could find themselves in a position to become the first players to be given their senior international debuts by Kerr.

Quinn, a long-time favourite of the Ireland manager since his days in the Republic's youth team, has been doing well since he returned to the Wednesday midfield after a spell on the sidelines, and while Lee was struggling to break back into the Rotherham first team until recently he, too, appears to have made progress in recent weeks with the big striker scoring his side's only goal in the draw with Leicester at the weekend.

Crowe, meanwhile, had been expected to earn a recall from Kerr who had mentioned him in positive terms over the past couple of months. The 25-year-old striker admitted to being taken by surprise when he heard the news yesterday, however, if only because he had not known that the panel would be named so soon.

"I didn't think that it would be named until next week so it's a nice surprise," he said. "Obviously I'm delighted to be in, but I didn't really think too much whether I would make it or not. I've just been concentrating on getting fit again, on playing my football.

"To be back in the team at Bohemians has been a huge relief to me. I missed some important games last year and it was hard not to be involved in them. Things look a lot better now."

Steve Finnan, Gary Kelly and Ian Harte, who were forced to withdraw from the trip to Georgia and Albania due to injury, are all included in the panel which is due to gather in Dublin on Sunday week for the FAI international awards. Out again, however, are Jason McAteer, Clinton Morrison and Steven Reid.

Millwall midfielder Reid said last week that he does not expect to play for his club again this season, but, he insisted, if his recovery from injury goes to schedule he should be available for the competitive internationals against Albania and Georgia at the start of June.

With whatever players he has available to him on Wednesday week, Kerr's priority will be to maintain the run of solid results that have marked the beginning of his time in charge of the senior team. But he warned yesterday that the Norwegians possess a strong group of players who would know what to expect in Dublin.

"Norway have started very well in the Group Two qualifiers, heading the group above Denmark," he said. "They have players who are familiar to us from British football, like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (Manchester United), as well as John Carew of Valencia. They will provide a stiff test for us, but with it being my first home game I will be hoping for a good performance and a win.

"It's a great game for us to have in the build-up to our vital home games in June with Albania and Georgia. I hope we will have a big crowd at the game to really get behind the team after three successive away games."

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND SQUAD (v Norway, Lansdowne Road, April 30th): Colgan (Hibernian), Given (Newcastle Utd), Kiely (Charlton Ath), Carr (Tottenham), Harte (Leeds Utd), O'Shea (Manchester Utd), O'Brien (Newcastle Utd), Breen (West Ham), Cunningham (Birmingham City), Kelly (Leeds Utd), Finnan (Fulham), Carsley (Everton), Healy (Celtic), Holland (Ipswich), Kinsella (Aston Villa), Quinn (Sheffield Wed), Kilbane (Sunderland), McPhail (Leeds Utd), Duff (Blackburn), Crowe (Bohemians), Connolly (Wimbledon), Doherty (Tottenham), Lee (Rotherham), Keane (Tottenham).