Staunton recalls Carsley to Irish national squad

Aug 29 2007 by Ian Parkes, Liverpool Daily Post

EVERTON midfielder Lee Carsley has been recalled to the Ireland squad for their next two European Championship qualifiers after being left out of last week’s friendly against Denmark.

Republic of Ireland manager Steve Staunton insists his side cannot afford to lose either of the games next month if they are to qualify for the finals.

Staunton yesterday named a 25-man squad for the Group D games against Slovakia in Bratislava on September 8 and the Czech Republic in Prague four days later.

Behind runaway leaders Germany, the runner-up spot in the group is a battle between the Czechs, Ireland and the Slovakians.

With all three teams having five matches to play, the Czechs are a point clear of Staunton’s Republic, who are a further four ahead of Slovakia.

“I’ve said since the start this September would be crucial due to two away games coming together, and the group is very tight now,” said Staunton.

“We know all about the Czechs, and the Slovakians we’ve had watched for the past 18 months.

“Since they changed the manager they’ve a younger squad together, athletic and strong, which we saw in Dublin.

“They’re a useful outfit – they may even be better than the Czechs at this point – and to stay on course we can’t afford to be beaten by them.

“If they do, it puts them right in there and would put us under real pressure to beat the Czechs.

“Ideally, we can’t afford to lose either game.”

After missing last week’s 4-0 win over Denmark in Aarhus with a groin injury, vice-captain and goalkeeper Shay Given returns to the squad.

Staunton is fully expecting the Newcastle star to be available, adding: “Shay has been training since last Monday and doing very well.

“He was on the bench against Middlesbrough on Sunday, so I don’t expect any problems, but you never know. Hopefully he’ll come through the next week or so. If he plays or not will be down to Sam Allardyce at Newcastle, but if he doesn’t then there’s no harm done.

Despite the scoreline in Denmark, Staunton was still far from happy with some aspects of his team’s performance.

“The Danish result was great, but so long as the players don’t get carried away,” insisted Staunton.

“We could have been 2-0 down in the first 20 minutes of the game because we weren’t closing down properly and getting at them quickly enough.

“The defenders and the keeper did their bit, and then after that we played well and scored some very good goals before ending the game quite sloppily.”