Republic of Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni is sweating on the fitness of skipper Robbie Keane ahead of Friday night's World Cup qualifier against Germany.
The 32-year-old LA Galaxy striker, who is in line to win his 122nd senior international cap at the Aviva Stadium, sat out training on Wednesday with an Achilles problem after a challenge by defender Paul McShane on Tuesday.
Assistant boss Marco Tardelli later insisted there was no doubt over Keane's participation on Friday evening, but Trapattoni will keep his fingers crossed until his captain, who joined up after another gruelling trans-Atlantic flight, is back on the field at the Republic's Gannon Park training base in Malahide.
Keane has admitted on more than one occasion that he has played despite not being 100 per cent fit for much of his career, and there is little chance of him crying off for such an important game.
Tardelli said: "It's no problem. For Robbie, it's just a knock. Yesterday in training, Paul McShane was very hard.
"Robbie decided to stay and rest because it is better. He needs to recover also after his trip.
"It's just a knock. I spoke with the doctor and he told me everything is okay."
Keith Andrews too was conspicuous by his absence during the open part of the session, but Tardelli revealed the Bolton midfielder had completed the earlier tactical work and had simply asked to be rested for the game with which training concluded.
He said: "For Andrews, it's just rest. He did the first part of training, the tactical part of training, and then afterwards asked us if it was possible to stay on the bench. It's no problem."
