Giovanni Trapattoni is continuing with his attempts to lure a trio of Irish stars back into action.
Ireland, O'Brien and Finnan would be welcomed back
Giovanni Trapattoni is continuing with his attempts to lure a trio of Irish stars back into action.
Stephen Ireland, Andy O'Brien and Steve Finnan are currently in a self-imposed international exile, making them unavailable to the new national boss.
The Italian coach met all three men in Manchester a fortnight ago, and has been in contact again since, but admits that the ball is now firmly in their court.
Waiting
"I saw them two weeks ago - my door is open for them," Trapattoni said.
"I called one week ago and I said, 'Now you know my number'. Now I wait. We will go and see them when they play, but we have to look ahead.
"At the moment we have a good squad, and when they want to come back, they know we have good players. They will have to earn their place in the team."
Feelings
Having seen West Brom keeper Dean Kiely make a successful return to the fold in midweek against Colombia, Trapattoni remains confident that he will be welcoming three more faces back into his squad in the near future.
"The young, today the wind is like this, tomorrow the wind is like this," he added.
"I spoke with Steve Finnan and I am sure he is okay. He is a man, he is not an old player.
"My feeling is that one or two said to me, 'At the moment, no because I have a problem, but in the future, there is a possibility I will come back'. My feeling is that."
Enthusiasm
Ireland secured their first victory in eight attempts on Wednesday and their manager is disappointed that he will now have to wait until the autumn to work with his players again.
"I wish I had more time with the team," he said.
"We made a step forward over the last two weeks, but I would be great to have more tests like Serbia (last Saturday) and Colombia and more opportunity to monitor the performance.
"I am happy that the players can go on holiday with a positive result behind them. I hope the players will come back after the summer with the same enthusiasm.
"But while I am happy, I am also sad to leave the team. We have done good work, but we still have a lot more to do because the qualification will be very difficult.
"It will be a new season and a new time. I said to the players, 'Come back with the same enthusiasm and a good performance because we start a very important season'."
