Doyle to miss Republic clash

Doyle: Sent back to his club Wolves for treatment

Wolves striker Kevin Doyle has been ruled out of the Republic Of Ireland's friendly clash against Croatia on Wednesday though injury.

The 27-year-old had been hoping to make his first international appearance since sustaining knee ligament damage in March but has been sent back to his club to recover by Republic manager Giovanni Trapattoni.

Doyle is the latest player to drop out of the team with the likes of Jon Walters, Marc Wilson, James McCarthy and Seamus Coleman already ruled out of Aviva Stadium clash.

Trapattoni confirmed he was sending Doyle back to Molineux as a precaution, but revealed he is unsure whether the forward would be fit in time to play in the Republic's crucial Euro 2012 qualifying double-header against Slovakia and Russia next month.

"The news from this morning is that we saw Doyle is not 100% fit and we decided with the doctor that he could go back to his club," said the Italian.

"It is better that his club decides for the future whether he should play or not play."

Pain

Asked if he thought Doyle might be fit in time for the Slovakia and Russia games, Trapattoni added: "We hope so. It is a difficult situation, because he will now be with his club.

"Yesterday I said 'I have to check Kevin' because the injury he had was very bad - I needed to check him psychologically.

"He was in a little bit of pain and I said 'it's better you stay (with Wolves) because of (the games in) September'."