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The mouth-watering prospect of a friendly clash between England and Ireland will have to wait until after Euro 2012, after the FA announced their pre-tournament fixtures today.

In mid-November, the prospect of the first international between the two countries in 16 years appeared closer than ever, with the Daily Mirror reporting that moves were underway for a friendly this summer at the Aviva Stadium.

Trap himself confirmed the Irish interest, even stating: "I think now that England will accept and we will wait for them to say yes." However, the FA today announced that England will instead face Norway and Belgium, both of whom failed to qualify for Euro 2012.

"I'm very happy with these two games," said England manager Fabio Capello."Since the draw in December we have been able to work towards these matches and the appropriate opposition.

"In the draw we face one of the hosts, Ukraine, which will be a difficult atmosphere to replicate, but looking at the styles of France and Sweden I feel these games are a good preparation for us."

Clearly, the English chickened out at the prospect of facing Trap's Army. FAI chief exec John Delaney admitted recently that although the friendly seemed unlikely for now, plans are still afoot for a fixture in the near future.

“They’re not that keen to do it in May, but they are very keen to come sooner rather than later to play a friendly in the Aviva. But I think it’s highly unlikely that it will be May now," said Delaney.