St Ledger & Green withdraw from Ireland squad

Republic of Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni was dealt a fresh blow when Sean St Ledger and Paul Green were both ruled out of Wednesday's friendly against Norway.

The Preston defender and the Derby midfielder both had scans on knee injuries today and will not be involved in the game at the Aviva Stadium.

That means eight of the original squad of 27, as well as Aston Villa defender Ciaran Clark, who was called up on Friday, are now unavailable.

Richard Dunne, Ciaran Clark and Kevin Kilbane had earlier withdrawn from the squad.

Aston Villa defender Dunne misses out with a knee injury, while his club team-mate Clark has pulled out due to a calf problem and Hull midfielder Kilbane sits out with a back injury.

The trio join Robbie Keane (ankle), Caleb Folan (knee) and Paul McShane (thigh) on the list of absentees, and manager Trapattoni may now have to bring in new faces for the Aviva Stadium friendly.