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08/05/2002, 9:43 AM
Kennedy in World Cup sweat
07 May 2002
By Sports.com's ROBERT REID
Mark Kennedy is still sweating on his World Cup fitness despite being included in Mick McCarthy’s 23-man squad.
Kennedy is due to see a specialist for an update on his troublesome groin injury on Tuesday and will be put through his paces when Ireland play Sunderland at the Stadium of Light next week in the Niall Quinn testimonial.
Mark Kennedy is due to see a specialist for his groin injury (Sports.com)
If he suffers a relapse in the meantime or fails to convince McCarthy about his fitness, either Celtic’s Colin Healy or Millwall’s Steven Reid could yet come into the equation.
But, predictably, McCarthy was playing his cards close to his chest.
He said: “Mark has to see a specialist to get the all clear, but I spoke to Dave Jones at Wolves and he is confident he will be given the green light to go to Japan.
“Hopefully he will because it would be heartbreaking for any of the lads to miss out on the World Cup through injury at this late stage.
“But Mark knows the score. If there is any doubt, if he is not 100 per cent, we will have to re-evaluate the sitaution.
“But I will give him all the time he needs. He will play most of the game against Sunderland and we will take it from there.”
McCarthy remained loyal to the players who got Ireland to the World Cup when he named his squad.
“Loyalty is very important to me,” he said. “The players who got us to the World Cup are the ones who deserve to go there. You could make a case for everyone, I suppose, but loyalty means a lot to me.
“Jack Charlton showed me a lot of loyalty when I was a player. I wasn’t a regular for Millwall when the 1990 World Cup came around, but Jack stood by me. I owe my players the same sort of loyalty. Anyhow I didn’t think any of the players I left out would add to what we’ve got in any way by including them.”
07 May 2002
By Sports.com's ROBERT REID
Mark Kennedy is still sweating on his World Cup fitness despite being included in Mick McCarthy’s 23-man squad.
Kennedy is due to see a specialist for an update on his troublesome groin injury on Tuesday and will be put through his paces when Ireland play Sunderland at the Stadium of Light next week in the Niall Quinn testimonial.
Mark Kennedy is due to see a specialist for his groin injury (Sports.com)
If he suffers a relapse in the meantime or fails to convince McCarthy about his fitness, either Celtic’s Colin Healy or Millwall’s Steven Reid could yet come into the equation.
But, predictably, McCarthy was playing his cards close to his chest.
He said: “Mark has to see a specialist to get the all clear, but I spoke to Dave Jones at Wolves and he is confident he will be given the green light to go to Japan.
“Hopefully he will because it would be heartbreaking for any of the lads to miss out on the World Cup through injury at this late stage.
“But Mark knows the score. If there is any doubt, if he is not 100 per cent, we will have to re-evaluate the sitaution.
“But I will give him all the time he needs. He will play most of the game against Sunderland and we will take it from there.”
McCarthy remained loyal to the players who got Ireland to the World Cup when he named his squad.
“Loyalty is very important to me,” he said. “The players who got us to the World Cup are the ones who deserve to go there. You could make a case for everyone, I suppose, but loyalty means a lot to me.
“Jack Charlton showed me a lot of loyalty when I was a player. I wasn’t a regular for Millwall when the 1990 World Cup came around, but Jack stood by me. I owe my players the same sort of loyalty. Anyhow I didn’t think any of the players I left out would add to what we’ve got in any way by including them.”
07 May 2002
By Sports.com's ROBERT REID
Mark Kennedy is still sweating on his World Cup fitness despite being included in Mick McCarthy’s 23-man squad.
Kennedy is due to see a specialist for an update on his troublesome groin injury on Tuesday and will be put through his paces when Ireland play Sunderland at the Stadium of Light next week in the Niall Quinn testimonial.
Mark Kennedy is due to see a specialist for his groin injury (Sports.com)
If he suffers a relapse in the meantime or fails to convince McCarthy about his fitness, either Celtic’s Colin Healy or Millwall’s Steven Reid could yet come into the equation.
But, predictably, McCarthy was playing his cards close to his chest.
He said: “Mark has to see a specialist to get the all clear, but I spoke to Dave Jones at Wolves and he is confident he will be given the green light to go to Japan.
“Hopefully he will because it would be heartbreaking for any of the lads to miss out on the World Cup through injury at this late stage.
“But Mark knows the score. If there is any doubt, if he is not 100 per cent, we will have to re-evaluate the sitaution.
“But I will give him all the time he needs. He will play most of the game against Sunderland and we will take it from there.”
McCarthy remained loyal to the players who got Ireland to the World Cup when he named his squad.
“Loyalty is very important to me,” he said. “The players who got us to the World Cup are the ones who deserve to go there. You could make a case for everyone, I suppose, but loyalty means a lot to me.
“Jack Charlton showed me a lot of loyalty when I was a player. I wasn’t a regular for Millwall when the 1990 World Cup came around, but Jack stood by me. I owe my players the same sort of loyalty. Anyhow I didn’t think any of the players I left out would add to what we’ve got in any way by including them.”
07 May 2002
By Sports.com's ROBERT REID
Mark Kennedy is still sweating on his World Cup fitness despite being included in Mick McCarthy’s 23-man squad.
Kennedy is due to see a specialist for an update on his troublesome groin injury on Tuesday and will be put through his paces when Ireland play Sunderland at the Stadium of Light next week in the Niall Quinn testimonial.
Mark Kennedy is due to see a specialist for his groin injury (Sports.com)
If he suffers a relapse in the meantime or fails to convince McCarthy about his fitness, either Celtic’s Colin Healy or Millwall’s Steven Reid could yet come into the equation.
But, predictably, McCarthy was playing his cards close to his chest.
He said: “Mark has to see a specialist to get the all clear, but I spoke to Dave Jones at Wolves and he is confident he will be given the green light to go to Japan.
“Hopefully he will because it would be heartbreaking for any of the lads to miss out on the World Cup through injury at this late stage.
“But Mark knows the score. If there is any doubt, if he is not 100 per cent, we will have to re-evaluate the sitaution.
“But I will give him all the time he needs. He will play most of the game against Sunderland and we will take it from there.”
McCarthy remained loyal to the players who got Ireland to the World Cup when he named his squad.
“Loyalty is very important to me,” he said. “The players who got us to the World Cup are the ones who deserve to go there. You could make a case for everyone, I suppose, but loyalty means a lot to me.
“Jack Charlton showed me a lot of loyalty when I was a player. I wasn’t a regular for Millwall when the 1990 World Cup came around, but Jack stood by me. I owe my players the same sort of loyalty. Anyhow I didn’t think any of the players I left out would add to what we’ve got in any way by including them.”