Darron Gibson returns to Republic of Ireland squad

Posted Tuesday, October 01, 2013 by Goal.com

The Everton midfielder has been named in Noel King's first squad as Ireland manager, while Andy Reid and Anthony Stokes have also been included

Noel King has named Darron Gibson, Andy Reid, and Anthony Stokes in his preliminary squad for the Republic of Ireland's upcoming World Cup qualifiers with Germany and Kazakhstan.

Gibson had not played for Ireland since falling out with previous manager Giovanni Trapattoni after not featuring at Euro 2012 but has been handed a recall under new the new coach's regime.

Nottingham Forest midfielder Reid and Celtic striker Stokes were also exiled by the Italian, who was let go by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) after failing to qualify for the 2014 World Cup.

Darren O'Dea, Conor Sammon, and Simon Cox are all noticeable absentees after being regular squad members under Giovanni Trapattoni. However, Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Kevin Doyle has been included.

King will have to plan without defensive pairing Richard Dunne and John O'Shea for the trip to Cologne, as both players are suspended after picking up bookings in September's 1-0 defeat to Austria, but they are set to join up with the squad for the home tie with Kazakhstan four days later.

Name                       Club

Goalkeepers:
David Forde             Millwall
Darren Randolph      Birmingham City
Keiren Westwood    Sunderland

Defenders:
Ciaran Clark             Aston Villa
Seamus Coleman      Everton
Richard Dunne          QPR
Stephen Kelly           Reading
Paul McShane          Hull City
Joey O'Brien            West Ham
John O'Shea            Sunderland
Sean St Ledger        Leicester City
Marc Wilson            Stoke City

Midfielders
Robbie Brady           Hull City
Darron Gibson          Everton
Paul Green               Leeds United
Wes Hoolahan         Norwich City
James McCarthy      Everton
James McClean       Wigan Athletic
Anthony Pilkington   Norwich City
Andy Reid               Nottingham Forest
Glenn Whelan          Stoke City

Attackers:
Shane Long              West Brom
Robbie Keane          LA Galaxy
Jonathan Walters      Stoke City
Kevin Doyle             Wolves
Anthony Stokes       Celtic