Clark in 25-man Republic squad

12/11/2010 16:46 +0100

The London-born 21-year-old, a former England Under-18s captain, has been drafted in by manager Giovanni Trapattoni after FIFA indicated they may be able to consider his application to play for Ireland ahead of the match. Clark, who qualifies through his mother and grandparents, opted to play for the Republic at senior level after talking to club-mate Richard Dunne, who is in line to win his 64th cap against the Norwegians. He has been included in a final 25 after Trapattoni whittled down his initial 27-man squad. However, skipper Robbie Keane has withdrawn with an ankle injury and defender Paul McShane and striker Caleb Folan will also be missing with thigh and knee problems respectively. Republic of Ireland squad: Shay Given (Manchester City), Keiren Westwood (Coventry); John O'Shea (Manchester United), Ciaran Clark (Aston Villa), Seamus Coleman (Everton), Richard Dunne (Aston Villa), Sean St Ledger (Preston), Greg Cunningham (Manchester City), Kevin Foley (Wolves), Kevin Kilbane (Hull), Stephen Kelly (Fulham), Darren O'Dea (Celtic); Marc Wilson (Stoke), Darron Gibson (Manchester United), Glenn Whelan (Stoke), Paul Green (Derby), Liam Lawrence (Portsmouth), Stephen Hunt (Wolves), Aiden McGeady (Spartak Moscow), Keith Treacy (Preston), Damien Duff (Fulham), Keith Fahey (Birmingham); Jonathan Walters (Stoke), Kevin Doyle (Wolves), Shane Long (Reading).