IRELAND MANAGER Giovanni Trapattoni will have to plan without his talismanic centre-half Richard Dunne for the first of the World Cup qualifiers.
Aston Villa have confirmed that the Dubliner is set to miss the start of the season after undergoing surgery on a groin injury.
Dunne will be sidelined for six to eight weeks with a injury he picked up while in European Championship action with the Boys in Green. Paul Lambert will also be without striker Gabriel Agbonlahor.
A Villa statement read: “Gabriel Agbonlahor will be sidelined for a further four to five weeks with an injury to his knee sustained against Chicago Fire after a scan confirmed medial ligament damage.
“Richard Dunne will also be out of action for six to eight weeks, having undergone a procedure on a groin injury which he sustained and was not dealt with during the European Championships.”
Ireland play Serbia on 15 August in a friendly ahead of the first qualifer for Brazil 2014 against Kazakhstan on 7 September. Dunne will expect to be back in action by the time Ireland welcome Germany to Dublin in October. Having admitted recently that he’s pondering his international future, it remains to be seen if he’ll be back in green by then.
New Villa boss Lambert signed defender Ron Vlaar from Feyenoord today but had sold Dunne’s defensive partner James Collins to West Ham, so will be light at the back without buying again.
