Injured Finnan to miss out
10 Sep 2007 - 16:29:51
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- Injured Finnan to miss out
Liverpool defender Steve Finnan has been ruled out of the Republic of Ireland's Euro 2008 qualifier against the Czech Republic in Prague on Wednesday.
Finnan missed Saturday's 2-2 draw against Slovakia with a knee problem which forced him to remain in Liverpool to receive further treatment.
However, he has failed to recover sufficiently in time for the Group D match, while Wolves' Darren Potter also misses out.
Stephen Ireland also withdrew from the squad on Sunday and boss Steve Staunton admitted: "It's unfortunate that Steve and Darren have withdrawn due to injury.
"However, we still have 20 players in the squad which will gives us plenty of options for Wednesday's game in Prague."
Meanwhile, Reds defender Jamie Carragher hopes to prove his fitness before Saturday's Premier League clash against Portsmouth.
Carragher broke a rib in the game against Sunderland last month and boss Rafa Benitez told the club's official website: "We must be careful with Carra, and we will wait until the end of the week to see how well he is.
"He is running again and he will do more training and then maybe we can see if he has a chance to play at the weekend. At this moment, it's still too early to say."