McCarthy forgiven; Stokes banished

The Ireland squad to face Croatia in a friendly next month includes James McCarthy, but there’s no place for Anthony Stokes.

Both players cried off from the international squad earlier in the summer and it seems as though Giovanni Trapattoni is willing to make an exception for the Wigan midfielder but not for Stokesy.

McCarthy claimed he missed the end-of-season internationals because of injury and not because he simply wanted some time off from duty.

Stokes, on the other hand, wasn’t so smart with his excuse at the time, citing ‘tiredness’ as his reason for a no-show.

Both Leon Best and Caleb Folan have been left out of the squad as there are recalls for Darron Gibson, Marc Wilson and Jon Walters.

Full squad to face Croatia, Wednesday August 10th, Aviva Stadium:

Goalkeepers: Shay Given, Keiren Westwood, David Forde

Defenders: John O’Shea, Paul McShane, Kevin Foley, Seamus Coleman, Stephen Kelly, Stephen Ward, Richard Dunne, Sean St Ledger, Darren O’Dea, Damien Delaney, Ciaran Clark, Kevin Kilbane

Midfielders: Glenn Whelan, Darron Gibson, Keith Andrews, Keith Fahey, Andy Keogh, Aiden McGeady, Damien Duff, Stephen Hunt, Liam Lawrence, James McCarthy, Keith Treacy, Marc Wilson

Forwards: Robbie Keane, Kevin Doyle, Jonathan Walters, Shane Long, Simon Cox