Richard Dunne took no part in Ireland’s training session this morning in Malahide but Marco Tardelli is “100 per cent” certain the defender will be fit for the Euro 2012 qualifiers against Russia at home and Slovakia away.
Dunne made his comeback from injury for Aston Villa at the weekend and while assistant manager Tardelli admitted he was still slightly niggled by the injury, he insisted today’s absence was purely precautionary.
“He feels well but it is better for him to have the rest for one day,” Tardelli told reporters at the end of training in Malahide. “It is a precaution and there is no problem.”
Dunne is due to train with the rest of the squad tomorrow and Tardelli has no concerns over his availability to start on Friday when Russia come to Lansdowne Road.
Tardelli hopes to gain at least four points from the double-header, a tally that would put Ireland in a position of real strength at the top of Group B, but is under no illusions just how difficult a task lies ahead.
After a shaky start, Russia will arrive in Dublin desperately needing a win to get their campaign back on track and despite their defeat at home to Slovakia, Advocaat’s squad have real strength in depth.
“The Russian team are a very good team with good qualities and they have important players, some who play in England and Germany,” Tardelli cautioned. “The Russian team maybe has better quality than Slovakia but Slovakia are very tough. They are two different teams
“All the players must do their best. Like the other matches . . . we need to press the Russian team because they can play well in the midfield.
“They are a quality teams with many quality players. Arshavin, Pavlyuchenko and other players with Zenit. They are very good technically but with pressure in midfield it is possible for us to attack and it’s possible for us to play well.”
No comments:
Post a Comment