Brennan's Argentina pain opens door for Caruth
Monday November 09 2009
Ireland will be without Joe Brennan when they depart for Argentina today for their World Cup qualifier in the city of Quilmes.
The Glenanne defender's broken thumb failed to mend as quickly as hoped, so he is being left behind.
Ulsterman Peter Caruth will take his place. The Annadale player is a natural attacker but coach Paul Revington believes his players are flexible enough to deal with altered balance in his 18-man squad.
One possibility is that Ireland's most capped player, midfielder Stephen Butler, may drop back occasionally to centre-half.
Encouragingly, Michael Watt and David Hobbs are rated fit to travel after injury worries.
The Argentina adventure begins on Saturday with Ireland due to play Belgium, Argentina, USA, Czech Republic and Chile in a battle for the one spot available at next year's World Cup in Japan.
Meanwhile, the draw was made yesterday for the first round of the Irish Senior Cup and many of the main contenders have been spared a call to action on January 16.
- David Medcalf
Irish Independent
