Quote:
Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni will continue to exclude James McClean from his starting XI despite an impressive performance from the winger the 4-1 win over Oman.
McClean received the biggest cheer of the night at Craven Cottage when he came off the bench on the hour to replace captain Kevin Doyle.
The Sunderland man had the crowd on their feet twice more during his 30-minute cameo, firstly when he drew a world-class save from Ali Al-Habsi with a brilliant free-kick, and then when he hammered a difficult volley just centimetres over the Oman bar.
McClean vented his fury at Trapattoni on Friday when he appeared to criticise the Italian for not bringing him off the bench in Kazakhstan, where the Republic scraped a 2-1 win with two last-gasp goals.
But despite his excellent showing in south-west London it appears the talented 23-year-old will be on the bench again when the men in green take on Germany in their World Cup qualifier against Germany on 12 October.