No surprises in Kerr's first squad

BRIAN KERR has announced his first squad since taking charge of Republic of Ireland, with injured trio Rory Delap, Damien Duff and Robbie Keane all included in the party that face Scotland in a friendly on February 12.

Kerr said at the time of his appointment that he would take steps to try and persuade Roy Keane to come out of the international wilderness, but it has come as no surprise that the Manchester United man has not been included in the squad for this friendly.

More could be read into the absence if it were a Euro 2004 qualifier, so the crunch time for Kerr and Keane will come when the coach names his squad for the game with Georgia.

Despite worries over the fitness of Delap, Duff and Keane, who are nursing calf, hamstring and ankle problems respectively, Kerr has picked the trio.

The full squad is as follows: Given (Newcastle United), Kiely (Charlton Athletic), Colgan (Hibernian), Harte (Leeds United), Breen (West Ham United), Kelly (Leeds United), Cunningham (Birmingham City), O'Shea (Manchester United), Carr (Tottenham Hotspur), Dunne (Manchester City), Finnan (Fulham), O'Brien (Newcastle United), Holland (Ipswich Town), Healy (Celtic), Kinsella (Aston Villa), Carsley (Everton), Delap (Southampton), McPhail (Leeds United), Kennedy (Wolves), Kilbane (Sunderland), Keane (Tottenham Hotspur), Morrison (Birmingham City), Duff (Blackburn Rovers), Doherty (Tottenham Hotspur), Connolly (Wimbledon), Reid (Millwall).