Westwood the focus of concern

SOCCER: REPUBLIC OF IRELAND v MACEDONIA:WITH SHAY Given and John O'Shea already out of the Republic of Ireland squad for next Saturday's European Championship qualifier against Macedonia in Dublin and Richard Dunne expected to be withdrawn by his club some time between now and then, the somewhat unfashionable focus of Giovanni Trapattoni's attention this weekend is likely to be Preston North End's Deepdale where two of his probable back five for the game are set to start.

Of all the Italian’s injury worries heading into the weekend, Coventry City’s goalkeeper Keiren Westwood is arguably the most critically important with the manager, who overlooked QPR’s Paddy Kenny when he named his squad on Monday, facing the prospect of falling back on debutants David Forde or Darren Randolph in the event Westwood suffers a recurrence of the thigh strain that briefly sidelined him a couple of weeks back.

Seán St Ledger, meanwhile, is likely to start for Preston and any sort of injury to him would leave Trapattoni with an even more patched-together back four going into the Macedonia match in the event Dunne, who was this week fined two weeks wages by his employers for his part in a drink-fuelled row with coaching staff while on a team-building trip, is also prevented from playing by Villa due to a shoulder injury.

Even if Dunne has a chance of playing, Villa manager Gerard Houllier is unlikely to want to risk prolonging the Dubliner’s absence from a Villa side that is embroiled in an increasingly tight relegation battle. Houllier insists the events of the past 10 days do not necessarily spell the end of Dunne and James Collins’ career at the club with the Frenchman observing: “I’ve got a long capacity for forgiveness.”

Trapattoni will have to wait to see whether Birmingham’s Keith Fahey (hamstring), Blackburn’s Keith Andrews (groin) or Wolves’ Stephen Hunt (calf) feature for their clubs. As of Thursday, Fahey was working with his club’s physios rather than training but all are given a chance of playing some part today and any involvement would represent a boost for the Ireland manager.

Paul Green is expected to start for Derby against Crystal Palace and Liam Lawrence, despite a minor setback in training on Wednesday, could also play all 90 minutes for Stoke after coming on an hour in against Middlesbrough following a three-week lay off.

Robbie Keane is not eligible to play for West Ham against Tottenham under the terms of his loan agreement while Ciarán Clark is suspended for Villa’s lunchtime encounter with Wolves.

Damien Duff will head to Everton with Fulham this afternoon hoping to maintain his strong run of form and the Dubliner’s involvement with the visitors is just one reason why Séamus Coleman is hoping to return to David Moyes’ line-up after having been rested for a couple of games.

“I played a lot of games and the manager decided to take me out and I have no complaints about that,” says Coleman. “Hopefully, though, I have worked hard in training and convinced him to put me back in. I’ll always remember my first start and that was against Fulham, playing right midfield. I remember the manager telling me I was starting and that was a great feeling.”

Getting to take on Duff, he admits, be a little special. “When I was a kid, Damien Duff and Robbie Keane were the players me and my friends looked up to. The 2002 World Cup was fantastic, they were superb and had a great tournament. He (Duff) is a top player and seems to be close to his best. He has been scoring goals and he will be a threat.”