Slovenian quartet head absentees

Defensive cover
Midfield duo Amir Karic and Mladen Rudonja are injured along with defender Muamer Vugdalic, while another player from the back line, Fabijan Cipot, has withdrawn as he does not want to travel from Qatar, where he plays his club football. Slovenia have called up two defenders, Matej Mavric and Suad Filekovic, as replacements for the Nova Gorica fixture.

Cunnigham denied
The new manager of the Republic of Ireland, Brian Kerr, also faces being without two experienced defensive players. Gary Kelly, the Leeds United AFC right-back, has been pulled out as a precautionary measure after complaining of shin splints, while Birmingham City FC's Kenny Cunningham looks like being denied an opportunity to captain the side because of a hamstring injury.

'Tough match'
Cunningham did not train yesterday and Kerr said of the 31-year-old's prospects of tackling Scotland: "Kenny did not train and is unlikely to be involved in the game. We thought it wise that Newcastle United [FC]'s Andy O'Brien took no part either as he had a tough match with Arsenal [FC] on Sunday. But Andy will be ready if we require him on Wednesday." Scotland manager Berti Vogts has lost Dominic Matteo and Maurice Ross.

Leading the chase
Turkey and England are leading the chase for the automatic passage to UEFA EURO 2004™ from Group 7, and both have injury concerns ahead of their final warm-up matches before qualifying resumes. Internazionale FC's Emre Belözoglu heads the Turkish withdrawals after twisting an ankle in Serie A on Sunday, an injury which sideline him for around a month. Two Istanbul-based players, Fenerbahçe SK forward Serhat Akin and Galatasaray SK left-back Hakan Ünsal, are also out of the visit of Ukraine to Izmir.

England's concerns
Although no players have pulled out of England's squad to meet Australia at Upton Park, home to West Ham United FC, Paul Scholes (groin), Frank Lampard (ankle) and Ashley Cole (groin) were undergoing fitness tests today after missing Monday training. Meanwhile, the Netherlands, who take on Argentina in Amsterdam, are sweating on the fitness of AFC Ajax winner Andy van der Meyde, who has been complaining of dizziness.

Drafted in
Norway are also waiting on the fitness of John Carew who is doubtful with pelvic and back injuries. Frode Johnsen has been drafted in as cover for the trip to Greece. Otto Rehhagel, the coach of Greece, has also been forced to shuffle his pack, calling in Spyros Vallas of Xanthi FC and Panathinaikos FC's Giannis Goumas to replace fellow defenders Paraskevas Antzas and Giorkas Seitaridis. Olympiakos Piraeus FC defender Christos Patsatzoglou has not travelled to Crete for personal reasons.

Fresh faces
Czech Republic coach Karel Brückner has added Reggina Calcio defender Martin Jíranek to his squad for tomorrow's friendly against France. Jíranek will step in if another Serie A-based player, Udinese Calcio's Marek Jankulovski, fails to recover from an ankle injury. Poland's coach, Pawel Janas, though, has resisted temptation to call-up fresh faces for the meeting with Croatia following the withdrawal of Eintracht Frankfurt striker Pawel Kryszalowicz. "Even without Pawel I have plenty of players to choose from," said Janas.

Loureiro delight
Meanwhile, in Portugal one man's agony is another man's ecstasy as Gil Vicente FC defensive midfield player Luís Loureiro has been called up by coach Luiz Felipe Scolari to replace the injured Costinha, of FC Porto, for the friendly match against Italy in Genoa. "I was informed this morning and I was very happy. This is the highest moment of my career and I have to seize this opportunity." Loureiro said.

Popov out
Finally, Russia have lost Denis Popov for this week's four-nation international tournament in Cyprus after the PFC CSKA Moskva striker suffered a rib injury. Coach Valeri Gazzaev has called up FC Zenit St. Peterburg midfield player Andrei Arshavin. Cyrpus, Romania and Slovakia are the other nations taking part.