Ireland v Germany: Keane will be fit for Friday’s qualifier – Tardelli

Marco Tardelli insists Republic of Ireland captain Robbie Keane will be fit to face Germany after the LA Galaxy striker sat out training on Wednesday.

The 32-year-old, who is Ireland’s record goal scorer, did not participate in the morning session after picking up a slight knock following a challenge from Paul McShane on Tuesday.

“It’s no problem,” said Tardelli.

“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 OK.”

The Republic of Ireland assistant manager also played down concerns over Bolton Wanderers midfielder Keith Andrews, who played a limited part in training on Wednesday morning.

“For Andrews, it’s just rest,” Tardelli added.

“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.”

Tardelli also revealed manager Giovanni Trapattoni is planning to deploy two strikers against Joachim Löw’s side as Ireland look to follow-up their opening Group C win against Kazakhstan.

“We have strikers – we have Robbie Keane, we have Cox or we have Walters,” he added.

“I don’t know who will play in the first XI, but we will certainly have two strikers on the pitch.

“Maybe one striker can play wide with just one up front, but we will have two strikers. Also [winger Aiden] McGeady can score a goal.”

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