Quote:
A surprise was the omission of centre-back Paul McShane after his two exciting performances in his first internationals against the Czech Republic and San Marino in Dublin. McShane is, however, on a yellow card and a second yellow in this match would automatically rule him out of next month's match at Croke Park against Wales. He is also carrying an injury, for he received a gash on his calf muscle in training and manager Staunton obviously did not want to risk losing him for Ireland's first match in Croke Park.
With McShane injured, O'Shea is the replacement. No point in arguing about McCarthy, he's picked up a knock at Leicester and will be out for at least 2 weeks