Dunne fitness worry for Republic

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 is a major fitness doubt for the Republic of Ireland's Euro 2008 qualifier against Wales on Saturday.

Dunne sustained an injured calf during Manchester City's scoreless draw against Portsmouth on Sunday.

Shay Given (groin) and Stephen Kelly (knee) are also fitness concerns for the qualifier in Cardiff.

Gareth Bale (foot) and Craig Bellamy (abductor strain) have been ruled out for Wales but Jason Koumas will link up with John Toshack's squad.

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 favourite to be skipper in Bellamy's absence.

Dunne has stayed in Manchester to get treatment on his injury and a decision on his availability is likely to be taken on Wednesday.

Republic goalkeeper Given has been sidelined with a persistent groin problem for the past couple of weeks and he visited a specialist on Monday to assess the extent of the injury.

Kelly aggravate a knee problem during the Birmingham derby defeat to Aston Villa.

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.

But Wales manager Toshack will hope to use the next two games to improve their Fifa ranking, ahead of the World Cup qualifying draw on 23 November.

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), Kelly (Birmingham), Dunne (Man City), McShane (Sunderland), A O'Brien (Bolton), 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