Gary Speed will take charge of his first full international as Wales manager on Tuesday night when his side travels to the Aviva Stadium in Dublin to face Ireland (Republic of Ireland v Wales to end as a draw – 13/5).
This is the opening fixture of the inaugural Carling Nations Cup which sees Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland battle it out for supremacy amongst the home nations.
Speed will be without ten of his players for the opening fixture as he looks to turn things around for his nation ahead of further Euro 2012 qualifiers. Wales are currently ranked 116th in the FIFA world rankings and have long suffered on the international stage.
Three of Speed’s key men who will be missing for the game are Cardiff’s Craig Bellamy, Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey and Tottenham’s Gareth Bale.
However, former captain Bellamy will be travelling to Dublin to be around the camp to add support to the team. Bellamy and Speed were team-mates at Newcastle and the current Wales manager does not want to push Bellamy into playing.
Speed said: “I am sure everyone is aware of Craig’s situation and it would be wrong of me to ask him to play on Tuesday after playing on Sunday. The last thing we want is players going back to their clubs injured.”
Wales will look to striker Robbie Earnshaw to provide them with firepower up front and he believes that their current FIFA ranking does not do them justice. The Nottingham Forest hitman is also looking forward to life under Speed.
He said: “There is a freshness about the place with Gary taking over, everybody wants to do well for themselves and the new manager.”
Earnshaw, who has scored 14 goals for Wales, will hope to add to that tally in Dublin (Earnshaw to score anytime – 9/4).
However, it is not just Wales who are resting key players due to injuries and club schedules. The Irish side will also be without certain key figures which will make this a tough game to call. Captain Robbie Keane has withdrawn from the squad, along with Leon Best, Liam Lawrence and James McCarthy.
Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni will be downcast at the prospect of not having the charismatic Keane leading his troops. Keane has recently found form again since making the switch from Spurs to West Ham and would have given Ireland a real boost going into this fixture.
Trapattoni will have the services of Wolves forward Kevin Doyle (Doyle to score a hat-trick – 33/1 joint favourite) at his disposal and he comes into this fixture full of confidence after scoring the winner against Manchester United at the weekend.
The Italian has also promised to give Seamus Coleman and Ciaran Clark their Republic of Ireland debuts. Both youngsters will no doubt be relishing their first international caps after excelling in the Premier League this season.
Neither side comes into the game with a good record. Ireland are without a win in their last three games whilst Wales head to Dublin on the back of three straight defeats.
Both sides will be keen to get a victory and gain some momentum ahead of their Euro 2012 qualifying games in March.
Want £200 Free? Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.