Giovanni Trapattoni has announced his 27 man squad for next month’s friendly international against Poland at the Aviva stadium and the main point of interest is the inclusion of Norwich’s Anthony Pilkington (pictured, left).

The other notable selections are the Derby County trio of Richard Keogh, Conor Sammon and Jeff Hendrick. All three players, like Pilkington, will be in line to make their Ireland debut.

Trapattoni is viewing the as “an opportunity to work with younger players to see their potential.” Meanwhile, Robbie Keane and Stephen Kelly have been left out of the squad, with Trapattoni saying he has decided to give some senior players “a break for this fixture”.

The chances of the younger players getting a cap appears good, with Trapattoni saying, “We saw a number of strong performances from our younger players in the second half of last year and we intend to build from those strong foundations, using this friendly match to introduce more new talent like Pilkington, Hendrick, Sammon and (Richard) Keogh.  I look forward to working with these players, and seeing what they have to offer.”

Trapattoni was forced to cancel his press conference earlier today as early this morning his sister, Romilde Trapattoni, passed away. She had been suffering a long illness.

Trapattoni said, “I am sorry that I couldn’t make it to Dublin today to announce the squad for the Poland game next month. It is important that I stay in Italy with family at this time after the passing of my sister this morning.”

Rep. of Ireland squad for international friendly against Poland at the Aviva Stadium, Feb 6

Goalkeepers

Keiren Westwood    Sunderland AFC  
David Forde    Millwall FC  
Stephen Henderson     West Ham United FC   

Defenders

John O’Shea    Sunderland AFC   
Ciaran Clark    Aston Villa FC
Darren O’Dea    Toronto FC
Richard Dunne*    Aston Villa FC
Paul McShane    Hull City FC
Seamus Coleman    Everton FC
Richard Keogh    Derby County FC
Greg Cunningham    Bristol City FC
Stephen Ward    Wolverhampton Wanderers FC

Midfielders

Anthony Pilkington    Norwich City FC
James McClean    Sunderland AFC
Robbie Brady    Hull City FC
Aiden McGeady    Spartak Moscow
Glenn Whelan    Stoke City FC
James McCarthy    Wigan Athletic FC
Jeff Hendrick    Derby County FC
David Meyler    Hull City FC
Wes Hoolahan    Norwich City FC

Forwards

Simon Cox    Nottingham Forest FC
Shane Long    West Bromwich Albion FC
Jon Walters    Stoke City FC
Conor Sammon    Derby County FC
Andy Keogh    Millwall FC
Kevin Doyle    Wolverhampton Wanderers FC