McClean Apologises to Trap Squad

Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni has decided against kicking James McClean out of the squad after the Sunderland winger made a grovelling apology to his team mates for a foul-mouthed tweet.

McClean was furious that Trapattoni did not bring him off the bench last night as the Republic struggled to a 2-1 win over eastern European minnows Kazakhstan.

In an apparent broadside at Trapattoni's refusal to call on his services, the Sunderland winger tweeted: "Delighted as a fan we got the the win.. Personal level fuming #f****njoke #embarrassing."

Trapattoni spoke to McClean about the tweet, which the midfielder quickly deleted, and the player issued a full apology on the micro-blogging website this afternoon.

He wrote: `i apologise for my tweet last night, it was stupid, disrespectful and i let my frustration get the better of me which still aint an excuse."

Trapattoni then also spoke to McClean in front of the whole squad before the player apologised to his team-mates in the room.

Trapattoni had considered dropping McClean from his squad for the outburst, but the former Derry City man's apology means he has been retained for the international friendly against Oman at Craven Cottage on Tuesday.

The tweet once again raises questions about Trapattoni's relationship with some of his players.

Having seen Damien Duff and Shay Given retire from international football this summer, the Italian was then disappointed by the actions of Darron Gibson, who refused a call up for these two games.

And last month Wolves utility man Kevin Foley turned down the chance to play for his country in their friendly against Serbia and vowed never to play for Trapattoni again because he felt the Italian "betrayed" him by excluding him from his European Championship squad.

Kevin Doyle today tried to play down talk of unrest and insisted the whole Republic squad are behind Trapattoni, whose position would have been under intense pressure had Doyle and Robbie Keane not scored two late goals to snatch all three points last night in the former Soviet republic.

"Everyone is together," Doyle said. "Everyone respects the manager 100% and there is no other scenario.

"Honestly, it's the same as any squad I have been involved in with Ireland. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and feeling but as far as I can see everyone is right behind the manager and hopefully that win will ease the pressure on us."

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QPR McCleaned at Stadium of Light

James McClean was in rampant form against 10-man Queens Park Rangers after having a hand in all three of Sunderland's goals as Djibril Cisse saw red for the visitors.

The Irishman, celebrating a contract extension at the Stadium of Light, first delivered a beautiful cross on to the head of masked marksman Nicklas Bendtner who rose above Taye Taiwo.

McClean then laid the ball off to David Vaughan after the interval who drilled a perfect cross into Stephane Sessegnon's path to slide home.

The Black Cats youngster later showed great persistence to fire past Paddy Kenny after seeing his first strike in the box blocked by a luckless Luke Young.

In the midst of all those goals, Cisse was given a straight red for a terrible two-footed challenge on substitute Fraizer Campbell. Mark Hughes later barely broke a smile when Taiwo curled in a free-kick into the top corner which was mere consolation for the visitors.

In the build-up to the game on Wearside, all talk was of Hughes dropping skipper Joey Barton to the QPR bench following a midweek performance against Liverpool which led to his own fans booing the much-maligned midfielder when he was substituted.

On the pitch, Barton's absence meant Wednesday's match-winner Jamie Mackie earned a start for the visitors but it was Sunderland who sprinted out of the blocks, enjoying the better spells of possession.

Jack Colback had passed up two glorious opportunities within a minute of one another as he failed to convert his side-footed effort from close range and then saw his half-volley brush against Kenny's right-hand post.

Sessegnon, back after a three-match ban following his dismissal against Newcastle, was also lively throughout but his rustiness proved to be the problem seven minutes later when he struck a poor effort which failed to trouble Kenny.

The Benin international's effort came seconds after Cisse had seen a rare effort blocked by O'Shea, but the defender's afternoon came to a premature conclusion five minutes later when he limped off with a calf injury.

Tempers flared on the pitch when Sotirios Kyrgiakos and Bobby Zamora clashed with the striker appearing to suggest he had been head-butted. Mike Jones eventually booked the pair.

The opener came with four minutes remaining as McClean threatened once more down the left and delivered a dangerous ball towards the far post for Bendtner to climb high above Taiwo and head firmly into the corner.

A frustrated Adel Taarabt wasted a chance to equalise later when he drilled an ambitious free-kick straight into the defensive wall.

Craig Gardner, who switched to right-back in the absence of stand-in skipper O'Shea, showed endeavour down the flank and with 48 minutes gone he overhit his cross which then saw Vaughan blast high over seconds later.

However, the visitors' plight deepened a minute later when former Sunderland striker Cisse was shown a straight red card for an unsavoury lunge on Campbell.

Sessegnon then tried to capitalise on his side's numerical advantage when he broke clear just before the hour mark but shot high and wide.

The tie was effectively over 20 minutes from time as Nedum Onuoha was caught under the ball, and McClean nipped in and after seeing Young block his initial effort, the winger thumped the rebound past Kenny with the help of a deflection.

The visitors' fortune took a turn for the worse as minutes later Sessegnon slid home Vaughan's cross from close range to make it 3-0.

Taiwo responded with a superb 79th minute set-piece, however their midweek last-gasp heroics against Liverpool were not repeated as the North East outfit claimed all three points.

Republic Debut Likely for McClean

Sunderland's James McClean looks certain to make his Republic of Ireland debut in Wednesday's friendly against the Czech Republic in Dublin.

Giovanni Trapattoni has said that he will take the opportunity to give a run-out to several fringe players.

"It will be a good opportunity to see players," said the Republic manager.

Defender Stephen Kelly and keeper Keiren Westwood are out because of injury and Portsmouth keeper Stephen Henderson has been called up.

Fulham full-back Kelly has a thigh problem while Sunderland Westwood is suffering from a wrist injury.

Keith Fahey and Kevin Doyle sat out training on Monday morning as a precaution but are expected to be fit.

Trapattoni named McClean and another uncapped Derryman Shane Duffy among five players likely to play some part in Wednesday's game.

"We have [Simon] Cox and [Jonathan] Walters and [Shane] Long in the strikers but Duffy and McClean can also play."

Trapattoni made clear his admiration for ex-Derry City player McClean.

"Now he plays on the left but I think in the future he can play left or right because he has a good personality.

"When he has the ball he knows what he can do.

"At the moment he is young but he has enough experience."

Regular centre-back Richard Dunne and Everton's Darron Gibson are missing Wednesday's game because of injury.