Trapattoni's Ireland ready to face top seeds

Republic of Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni has named a 26-man squad for the potentially key Group B qualifiers against Russia and Slovakia.

Ireland posted maximum points from their opening matches but are ready for tougher tests in Moscow and Dublin, on 8 and 12 October respectively. "We go into these qualifiers with six points from six in the opening games of the campaign in September," Trapattoni said. "We performed well against Armenia and Andorra and we will build on these good results in our next games.

"These teams are the top seeds in the group and they will be looking to take three points from us to kick-start their EURO campaigns but we have prepared well and will not make it easy for them as we continue to lay the foundations to qualify for the European Championship finals." Centre-back Richard Dunne (knee) and midfield player Keith Andrews (groin) are the Italian's main injury concerns.

Republic of Ireland squad
Goalkeepers: Shay Given (Manchester City FC), Keiren Westwood (Coventry City FC), Joe Murphy (Scunthorpe United FC).

Defenders: John O'Shea (Manchester United FC), Richard Dunne (Aston Villa FC), Sean St Ledger (Preston North End FC), Greg Cunningham (Manchester City FC), Kevin Foley (Wolverhampton Wanderers FC), Stephen Kelly (Fulham FC), Paul McShane (Hull City AFC), Darren O'Dea (Ipswich Town FC), Kevin Kilbane (Hull City AFC).

Midfielders: Keith Andrews (Blackburn Rovers FC), Glenn Whelan (Stoke City FC), Darron Gibson (Manchester United FC), Paul Green (Derby County FC), Liam Lawrence (Portsmouth FC), Aiden McGeady (FC Spartak Moskva), Andy Keogh (Cardiff City FC), Damien Duff (Fulham FC), Keith Fahey (Birmingham City FC), Keith Treacy (Preston North End FC).

Forwards: Robbie Keane (Tottenham Hotspur FC), Kevin Doyle (Wolverhampton Wanderers FC), Shane Long (Reading FC), Cillian Sheridan (PFK CSKA Sofia).