Murphy bemused by snub

Black Cats striker questions Trapattoni decision

Last updated: 27th March 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Murphy bemused by snub

Murphy: Frustrated

Related links

Teams

Players

Also see

Daryl Murphy has revealed his disappointment at being omitted from the latest Republic of Ireland squad.

The Sunderland striker has been a regular in Giovanni Trapattoni's plans in recent times, but was cut by the Italian for the latest round of 2010 World Cup qualifiers.

Ireland face a crunch double-header against Bulgaria and Italy over the course of the next week as they look to make positive strides on the road to South Africa.

Murphy is understandably frustrated at being forced to miss such crucial contests, but admits his biggest gripe is with the Irish coaching set-up for not explaining their decision to leave him out.

He told the Sunderland Echo: "I know they are not obliged to speak to us when we are not selected, but communication is a big thing and it would have been nice to get a quick call.

Honour

"As it was, the first I knew was when the squad was announced in the papers and on the telly.

"It is disappointing. Playing for your country is the biggest honour in football and I have been pretty much third-choice striker for Ireland in the last few squads.

"I don't really see that I have done anything wrong, so I don't know why I'm not involved this time.

"I'm not going to sulk about it and I would go and play for Ireland any time at the drop of a hat.

"But it would have been good to be told that I wasn't going to be in these squads and why."