Keane pledges himself to Irish cause

ROBBIE Keane has sought to quell growing unrest in the Republic of Ireland dressing room ahead of tomorrow's glamour friendly against Brazil by reiterating his commitment to his country.

The ongoing search for a new coach to replace Steve Staunton is believed to have prompted a number of senior Republic internationals to consider following Steve Finnan, Stephen Carr and Andy O'Brien into retirement.

But captain Keane insists he has no problem with the delay in making a new appointment as a three-man selection panel struggles to secure a new man, thought to be either Giovanni Trapattoni or Terry Venables.

Keane said: "I think everyone wants the new man sooner rather than later and it's probably gone on longer than people expected, but it will only be a matter of time then the team and the country can move on.

"People have their own opinions and they have their own reasons to retire. But I cannot comment for them, I can only comment on my situation and there is no way at this moment in time that I am going to be retiring."

The panel, headed by Don Givens – who will also take charge of the Republic team for the second time in a caretaker capacity tomorrow night – cancelled an expected announcement on the new boss last Sunday.

The availability of Trapattoni has been denied by his club, Red Bull Salzburg, and frustration is mounting over the situation, as well as how Venables, the players' favourite, will react to appearing to be very much the second-choice candidate.

Givens played it straight when asked about the vacancy at a press conference yesterday. He said: "After Sunday, I haven't spoken about it and I don't want to speak about it any more because I have a job to do tomorrow night."

Despite the uncertainty, a near-capacity 80,000 crowd is expected at Croke Park for tomorrow's clash against a good Brazilian side, and they will witness the return to international action of Damien Duff after ten months on the sidelines.

Givens said: "Damien is well on his way back. I saw him two weeks ago and for 45 minutes he looked to be back to the real Damien Duff . . . he is another player who they (Brazil) will be very much aware of."

Givens confirmed he had been unable to persuade O'Brien to reverse his retirement decision, but he has named a strong side, albeit without Blackburn midfielder Steven Reid.