Irish quartet miss out on squad to face France

Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni has left Steven Reid, Andy Reid, Steve Finnan and Clinton Morrison out of his 25-man squad for the World Cup qualifying play-off against France.

Trapattoni recently said he did not think Steven Reid would play again following injury, a statement which drew a furious response from the player's club manager Sam Allardyce.

Trapattoni has also decided to leave out Sunderland's Andy Reid, Portsmouth defender Finnan and Coventry striker Morrison for the two-legged play-off at Croke Park on November 14 and the Stade de France on November 18.

Trapattoni said: "We performed strongly throughout the qualifying group stages. We were undefeated in all ten 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."

Full Ireland squad:

Goalkeepers: Shay Given (Manchester City), Keiren Westwood (Coventry City), Joe Murphy (Scunthorpe United).

Defenders: John O'Shea (Manchester United), Richard Dunne (Aston Villa), Stephen Kelly (Fulham), Kevin Kilbane (Hull City), Eddie Nolan (Preston North End), Sean St. Ledger (Middlesbrough), Paul McShane (Hull City), Darren O'Dea (Reading).

Midfielders: Aiden McGeady (Celtic), Damien Duff (Fulham), Darron Gibson (Manchester United), Glenn Whelan (Stoke City), Keith Andrews (Blackburn Rovers), Liam Miller (Hibernian), Stephen Hunt (Hull City), Andy Keogh (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Liam Lawrence (Stoke City).

Forwards: Kevin Doyle (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Robbie Keane (Tottenham Hotspur), Shane Long (Reading), Leon Best (Coventry City), Anthony Stokes (Hibernian).