Ireland Left Out of Trapattoni's First Squad

Giovanni Trapattoni has left the door open for Stephen Ireland to return to international football despite leaving him out of his first Republic of Ireland squad this afternoon.

The Manchester City midfielder has not played for the national team since he lied about his grandmothers dying in September, before admitting he pulled out of the Euro 2008 qualifier against the Czech Republic because his girlfriend had suffered a miscarriage. But Trapattoni said that Ireland, together with Steve Finnan and Andy O'Brien, would be considered for his next selection should he make his intention to return clear. "It is now up to them to decide what to do," he said.

Trapattoni named six uncapped players in his 28-man squad for the forthcoming friendlies with Serbia on May 24 and Colombia on May 29, his first matches in charge. Darren O'Dea, Owen Garvan, Wes Hoolahan, Glenn Whelan, Damien Delaney and Sean Scannell were all included, and there is a return for West Bromwich Albion keeper Dean Kiely after a five-year absence. Shay Given, Lee Carsley, Kevin Kilbane, Steven Reid, Darron Gibson and Joey O'Brien were ruled out of the squad because of injury.

"Any player who is not in this squad is still in my thoughts," Trapattoni said. "Some players who were not in the preliminary squad are in this squad because they have impressed and are playing in positions where we had vacancies. We will continue to monitor every Irish player from the start of next season and if they impress they will be brought into the squad."

Before the two friendlies, the squad will spend a week at a training camp in Portugal. However, Robbie Keane, Richard Dunne, John O'Shea, Aiden McGeady and O'Dea will not link up with the group until they return to Dublin because of club commitments.

"The next two weeks are important. It is my first opportunity to work with the players and I am looking forward to it. We will have two training games in Portugal and the games against Serbia and Colombia so I will get to see all the players playing."

Republic of Ireland squad for the friendlies against Serbia and Colombia

Goalkeepers: Colin Doyle (Birmingham), Dean Kiely (West Brom), Joe Murphy (Scunthorpe).

Defenders: Alex Bruce (Ipswich), Damien Delaney (QPR), Richard Dunne (Manchester City), Kevin Foley (Wolves), Stephen Kelly (Birmingham), Paul McShane (Sunderland), Darren O'Dea (Celtic), John O'Shea (Man Utd).

Midfielders: Damien Duff (Newcastle), Owen Garvan (Ipswich), Wes Hoolahan (Blackpool), Stephen Hunt (Reading), Aiden McGeady (Celtic), Stephen MacPhail (Cardiff), Liam Miller (Sunderland), Darren Potter (Wolves), Andy Reid (Sunderland), Martin Rowlands (QPR), Sean Scannell (Crystal Palace), Glenn Whelan (Stoke).

Strikers: Kevin Doyle (Reading), Robbie Keane (Tottenham), Andy Keogh (Wolves), Shane Long (Reading), Daryl Murphy (Sunderland).