France-
Trapattoni: High profile exclusions
Giovanni Trapattoni has left both Steven Reid and Andy Reid out of the Republic of Ireland squad for the World Cup play-off with France next month.
While Sunderland winger Andy Reid has been repeatedly omitted from the Italian's squad, despite his rejuvenated club form, Steven Reid is the surprise exclusion after his return from fitness.
Earlier this month, Trapattoni questioned the Blackburn midfielder's ability to recover from his long-term injury problems, prompting an angry reaction from Rovers boss Sam Allardyce.
However, Reid went some way to proving his fitness by playing 70 minutes in the 5-2 win over Peterborough on Tuesday, getting his name on the scoresheet via the penalty spot in the process.
The performance was not enough to win over Republic boss Trapattoni, however, and Reid joins his namesake Andy, Steve Finnan and Clinton Morrison as the big-name exclusions from the 25-man squad.
After an unbeaten Group 8 qualifying campaign, Republic begin the two-legged play-off at Croke Park on 14th November with the return meeting at the Stade de France four days later.
Trapattoni has persistently picked the same set of players for his qualifiers where possible and has once again rejected the chance to bring fresh options into the squad.
He said: "We performed strongly throughout the qualifying group stages.
"We were undefeated in all 10 games and this is a reflection of how we have played and also the mental strength of this team.
"France have a strong squad but we go into this play-off knowing that we are only 180 minutes away from qualifying for the World Cup."
Squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Shay Given (Man City), Kieren Westwood (Coventry), Joe Murphy (Scunthorpe)
Defenders: John O'Shea (Man Utd), Richard Dunne (Aston Villa), Stephen Kelly (Fulham), Kevin Kilbane (Hull), Eddie Nolan (Preston), Sean St Ledger (Preston, on loan at Middlesbrough) Paul McShane (Hull), Darren O'Dea (Celtic, on loan at Reading)
Midfielders: Aiden McGeady (Celtic), Damien Duff (Fulham), Darron Gibson (Man Utd), Glenn Whelan (Stoke), Keith Andrews (Blackburn), Liam Miller (Hibernian), Stephen Hunt (Hull), Andy Keogh (Wolverhampton), Liam Lawrence (Stoke)
Strikers: Kevin Doyle (Wolverhampton), Robbie Keane (Tottenham), Shane Long (Reading), Leon Best (Coventry), Anthony Stokes (Hibernian)
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