Robbie Keane and Richard Dunne insist they are fit to face Macedonia

Posted Friday, March 25, 2011 by theguardian.com

• Senior professionals offer manager Giovanni Trapattoni support
• Ireland need a win to maintain Euro 2012 qualification hopes

Robbie Keane and Richard Dunne insist they are fit to face Macedonia
Ireland's Robbie Keane has said he is fit to play in Euro 2012 qualifier after recovering from calf injury.

Robbie Keane has insisted that he feels ready to start for the Republic of Ireland in Saturday's Euro 2012 qualifier against Macedonia, despite having only played 22 minutes of competitive football since the beginning of February.

Richard Dunne, another senior player, who has struggled recently with a shoulder problem, has also declared his fitness to offer a boost to the manager Giovanni Trapattoni, who is already without the injured Shay Given and John O'Shea.

A doubt remains over Dunne's regular central defensive partner Sean St Ledger, but Damien Duff came through his first training session of the build-up after some achilles tendon inflammation and he is set to start in what must be considered a must-win tie for Ireland. Trapattoni's team are joint second in qualifying Group B with Armenia and Slovakia, two points behind the leaders Russia.

Keane, the captain, injured his calf against Birmingham City on 6 February in only his second match for West Ham United, the club where he is on loan from Tottenham Hotspur. He returned to feature as a 68th minute substitute in the FA Cup quarter-final defeat at Stoke City but, apart from a 65 minute run-out for the club's reserves against Newcastle United, that has been his only action.

Trapattoni had pondered whether to use Keane as a substitute, given the fear that he is not match fit, but the striker has pressed his case in training. "Absolutely, I will be fine to play," Keane said. "The calf is not a problem."

Dunne presented a similarly positive front. "The shoulder won't stop me from playing," he said. "It's grand after training." So St Ledger appears to be Trapattoni's principal selection concern. The Preston North End player hurt his knee in a training ground challenge with Ciaran Clark on Tuesday.

"We're giving him as much time as possible," said Alan Kelly, Trapattoni's goalkeeper coach. "Twenty-four hours can make a big difference. It was boot to boot, an impact injury. He'll be assessed."

Trapattoni has said that James McCarthy will feature at some stage against Macedonia and that will officially put an end to the issue of his international allegiance. Wigan Athletic's Glasgow-born midfielder has been courted by Scotland and there have been erroneous yet well-publicised suggestions that he was ready to switch to them. McCarthy represented Ireland from under-17 to under-21 levels, having declared for them through his grandfather, and his only senior cap to date came in last year's friendly against Brazil. "If I feature on Saturday [in a competitive game], that's it put to bed," McCarthy said, "but as far as it goes, it is put to bed now. I'm an Ireland player."