Republic hit by three withdrawals

Wales v Republic of Ireland
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Saturday, 17 November
Kick-off: 1500 GMT
Live coverage on BBC Radio Wales, Radio Cymru & the BBC Sport website.

Richard Dunne, Stephen Kelly and Andy O'Brien are all out of the Republic of Ireland squad for Saturday's Euro 2008 qualifier against Wales in Cardiff.

The three injured men pulled out of the squad on Tuesday to leave caretaker boss Don Givens with defensive worries.

Celtic centre-back Darren O'Dea and Alex Bruce of Ipswich Town have been called up as replacements.

Wales are without injured Gareth Bale and Craig Bellamy but Jason Koumas is expected to link up with the squad.

Republic centre-back Dunne sustained an injured calf during Manchester City's scoreless draw against Portsmouth on Sunday while Kelly has a knee injury and O'Brien requires a nose operation.

To add to Givens' woes, Sunderland's Paul McShane pulled out of Tuesday's training session at the Cwmbran Stadium early on as a precaution because of a calf injury.

Givens had looked to call up Ian Harte and Kevin Foley but they have hip and ankle injuries respectively.

Shay Given has not played since October 27 due to a groin injury but is understood to have trained with the Magpies on Tuesday and Givens is optimistic that the goalkeeper will be fit to play.

Bale has still not recovered from a foot injury and will also miss the game with Germany four days later.

Koumas will join the Wales camp, despite withdrawing from Wigan's squad to face Spurs on Sunday with sickness.

With Bellamy out, Simon Davies is favourite to be skipper in Bellamy's absence.

Joey O'Brien and Steven Reid withdrew from the Republic squad shortly after it was announced last week which led to a call-up for Wolves midfielder Darren Potter.

Neither Wales or the Republic have any chance of making the finals in Austria and Switzerland.

Wales squad for the Euro 2008 qualifiers against the Republic of Ireland in Cardiff on November 17 and Germany in Frankfurt on November 21: Hennessey (Wolves), Price (Derby), J.Collins (West Ham), Eardley (Oldham), Evans (Wrexham), Gabbidon (West Ham), Gunter (Cardiff), Morgan (Peterborough), Nyatanga (Barnsley), Ricketts (Hull), Crofts (Gillingham), A.Davies (Nottm For), S Davies (Fulham), Edwards (Luton), Fletcher (Crystal Palace), Tudur-Jones (Swansea), Koumas (Wigan), Ledley (Cardiff), Robinson (Toronto), Cotterill (Wigan), Earnshaw (Derby), Easter (Plymouth), Eastwood (Wolves).

Republic of Ireland : Given (Newcastle), J Murphy (Scunthorpe), C Doyle (Birmingham); Finnan (Liverpool), Bruce (Ipswich), O'Dea (Celtic), McShane (Sunderland), D Potter (Wolves), O'Shea (Man Utd); McGeady (Celtic), Carsley (Everton), Douglas (Leeds), A Reid (Charlton), Miller (Sunderland), Hunt (Reading), Kilbane (Wigan); Keane (Tottenham), D Murphy (Sunderland), Stokes (Sunderland), K Doyle (Reading).

Source: BBC Sport