The Republic of Ireland squad trained in Dublin for the last time before their International friendly with Oman at the Aviva Stadium.
James McCarthy didn’t take part due to blisters on his feet so he won’t feature against Oman and the same applies for Jonathan Walters. The Stoke striker started the training session but then sat out the second part of the session as a precaution so he won’t be risked with the Georgia game to come on Sunday.
Robbie Keane trained so he could play some part following his arrival from LA last night and manager Martin O’Neill confirmed Darron Gibson will start in midfield for the first time since suffering a cruciate injury against Kazakhstan last October. Shay Given will also make his first appearance since Euro 2012 after his return to International Football.
Everton midfielder Gibson recalls the night he suffered the serious injury and talks about the road to recovery:
Manager Martin O'Neill will pick an experimental side against Oman to give certain players game time and he also said there are still some places up for grabs in his starting 11 for their opening Euro2016 qualifier away to Georgia on Sunday.
O'Neill also said he's looking forward to seeing what Gibson can bring to the midfield on his return:
