Wolves winger Mark Kennedy has been withdrawn from the Republic of Ireland squad for next Saturday's first leg of the World Cup play-off tie with Iran at Lansdowne Road. The former Liverpool and Manchester City player is suffering from a hamstring injury but could yet be fit to travel to Tehran for the second leg of the play-off on November 15. A decision on his fitness to travel to Iran will not be taken for a further 72 hours.
Kennedy's withdrawl follows that of Blackburn wide man Damien Duff, leaving McCarthy with some selection headaches on the left wings, especially if Sunderland's Kevin Kilbane and Millwall's Steven Reid fail to recover from their injuries before the squad links up in Dublin on Tuesday. "As with the Roy Keane situation and his ongoing knee problem, we will just have to be patient and wait and see when the squad assembles on Tuesday. Time is on our side," said McCarthy.
There was some good news for McCarthy today when Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson admitted that Irish captain Roy Keane could make the second leg of the 02 play-off with Iran. The possibility of Keane being involved in even one game of the two-legged affair looked to be slim to none last week. However, Ferguson revealed today that the midfield star has started jogging again.
"Because of the Ireland game, Roy has started jogging. But it is a niggling injury and if we don't sort it, it may get worse," said Ferguson. "But I think he will make one Ireland game. I think that will happen," added the Old Trafford boss.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
