After Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni named a 29-man squad for the games against Sweden and Austria, we look at how the lads got on over the weekend.
By Adrian Collins
Despite a loss to Nottingham Forest, Wolves manager Dean Saunders was positive about the performance overall, saying the team was in the game for a long period, and this loss was not going to get them down in the dumps.
Stephen Ward saw a straight red card for body checking Lewis McGugan in the 83rd minute, however this was a result of him being left to defend on his own after his team mates all pushed up for a corner.
Simon Cox was also on target in this game, although he saw his effort ruled off for offside after he’d tapped home an Andy Reid cross from close range. Kevin Doyle only made a substitute appearance for Wolves, coming on in the 68th minute, and things at Molineaux are looking ominous as they hover just above the relegation zone.
Jeff Kendrick and Conor Sammon both played 90 minutes for Derby County, although their team was on the wrong end of a 3-1 loss away to Birmingham City. Having led at half time, they looked good value to hold on to their lead, but Birmingham created more opportunities in the second half, scoring with all their shots on target.
David Forde, likely to start in goal in the upcoming games had a decent display against Blackburn in the FA Cup quarter final. He managed to keep a clean sheet against the team that felled Arsenal in the previous round, although he did pick up a yellow after shoving Markus Olsson in what was a hot blooded affair at the New Den in Millwall.
Jonathan Walters finally broke the run of bad luck he’d been having with penalties, as he slammed one in against Newcastle. After some good play, Walters turned Cheick Tiote nicely and was hacked down inside the box, slamming the resulting kick himself into the bottom corner.
James McCarthy was also composed in midfield for Wigan as they cruised to victory against Everton in the FA Cup, as they scored three times in as many minutes on the half hour to give themselves a comfortable margin of victory.
Overall it was an up and down week for the squad, but with another week of football action still to come, there’s a chance for players to push their way into Trap’s starting XI for the huge game in Stockholm on the 22nd.
