Paul Green misses Republic squad for 'vital' game
PAUL Green's hopes of making the Republic of Ireland squad for the European Championships this summer appear to have been dented.
The Derby County midfielder has not been named in the 24-man squad for a friendly against the Czech Republic later this month.
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Paul Green was in the Irish squad before his knee injury.
It is a fixture manager Giovanni Trapattoni has described as "vital" in choosing the 23-player squad for the finals.
The friendly will be played at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Wednesday, February 29, as the Republic start their preparations for the Euro 2012 finals in Poland and Ukraine.
Green has been back playing for Derby for almost three months following a serious knee injury.
He was in the Irish squad before he suffered cruciate ligament damage in a defeat by Cardiff at the beginning of April.
The 28-year-old, who is out of contract in the summer, has won nine caps.
His last came when he started against Uruguay in March last year, only a few weeks before he was injured.
Among the midfielders named in the latest squad are Stoke City's Glenn Whelan, James McCarthy of Wigan Athletic, West Bromwich Albion's Keith Andrews, Kevin Foley of Wolverhampton Wanderers and Everton pair Darron Gibson and Seamus Coleman.
Trapattoni said: "This game is the beginning of our Euro 2012 preparations.
"It is important for our players to remember the attitude and performance that brought us qualification.
"This game is vital in helping us choose our 23-player squad for May.
"We will continue to monitor our players afterwards and keep a close eye on their fitness in the coming months."
Comments
by PeteDerby1
Saturday, February 11 2012, 10:17AM
“Maybe this will give him a bit of a reality check? Combined with the fact there was no rush to snap him up during the transfer window, perhaps he'll stop listening to his agent bigging him up and be a bit more realistic on his salary demands.
Friends of mine in the Republic to a man think he's a liability to the national side when he plays. He does a good enough job for us and stands out because of our general lack of quality, but when I started to hear that his wage expectations were more Premiership than Championship I thought he was kidding himself.”