Trap: Keane affected by lack of first team football

Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni has admitted that a lack of first team football at Tottenham Hotspur has affected Robbie Keane’s performances for the national team.

Keane missed a number of chances against Slovakia last night, including a penalty at the end of the first half, and looked a shadow of the confident striker that has netted 45 goals in 104 internationals for his country.

Despite some impressive displays in pre-season, Keane has found himself behind Roman Pavlyuchenko and Peter Crouch in the pecking order at White Hart Lane and has featured very sparingly in the club’s Premier League and Champions League campaigns so far this season.

Following Ireland’s draw with Slovakia last night, Trapattoni revealed his belief that Keane is suffering from a lack of game time at Tottenham and that he may consider leaving his captain out of the side in the future.

“Missing penalties is not a problem,” said Trapattoni.

“The problem is I know he is not 100% fit. He didn’t play like he can.

“I could have given him a rest, I could have changed one or two players and in the future it’s possible I could try this situation.

“He can improve his condition. He wanted to stay at Tottenham in August, and I agreed because I thought he would play.

“He has experience and is confident with the ball, although today he was missing the technique a little bit.

“The last game he scored a goal so the goalkeeper knows where he placed the last penalty. He was tired and I could have changed him. But psychologically it’s like killing him.”

Trapattoni was disappointed with the result in Zilina, as he felt that Ireland deserved to win the game.

“I was sure the team would show a good direction and we could win this game,’ continued Trapattoni.

“We played very, very well in the first half and we could have closed the game with the penalty. We deserved to win the game.

“The second half was more balanced and both teams had the possibility to win the game. We had a great chance for Robbie but it’s a positive situation psychologically and a positive result. The performance was important.

“Before the game I was confident. I can be a little bit disappointed but we lost the game (against Russia) and we can accept this result.”

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