James McCarthy in Ireland plans despite latest injury fiasco

Giovanni Trapattoni will welcome James McCarthy back into the Republic of Ireland fold next season despite the latest embarrassing communications breakdown with the player.

Wigan midfielder McCarthy's failure to report for international duty has overshadowed the resumption of the Carling Nations Cup and Ireland's build-up to their Euro 2012 qualifier in Macedonia on June 4.

The 20-year-old pulled out to protect an ankle injury but Trapattoni claimed earlier in the week the player had made no contact to explain his absence.

Wigan insisted they had informed the Football Association of Ireland of the injury and the governing body later confirmed they had received scan results.

But the FAI then appeared to suggest those results did not indicate a significant injury. The fiasco is merely the latest misunderstanding between the FAI and McCarthy, who withdrew from a squad in February amid rumours he was considering switching his allegiance to Scotland. That is now not possible as he appeared in the March qualifier against Macedonia.

Trapattoni's assistant Marco Tardelli attempted to clarify the situation but made some unclear statements at a Press conference.

The Italian said: "Every player has a future in the Irish team. Why not? The problem with James McCarthy was that the message was never answered.

"I don't know if there is an injury or not - I believe he is injured. He is a young player and he wants to come here to play, but maybe he is injured. We believe him. Giovanni never doubted there was an injury.

"It is not that they didn't believe it but the scan we received didn't give a clear sign of a bad injury. He could have come, been assessed and then gone back to his club."

The matter has been exacerbated by the additional absences of Stoke pair Marc Wilson and Jon Walters. Both are also injured but Trapattoni claims he was not informed they would not be in Dublin this week.

On Monday Trapattoni even named Wilson in his provisional side for last night's 5-0 win over Northern Ireland at the Aviva Stadium.

Tardelli claims the FAI now know Walters and Wilson are out injured while two other players, Glenn Whelan and Keith Fahey, will arrive later.

Yet while appearing to accept that, Tardelli then suggested they may consider invoking FIFA rules to force the injured players to report for medical assessment prior to the competitive Macedonia fixture. He said: "Wilson - out. He has a problem, injured. Walters is out, injured. Whelan and Fahey, they will come.

"The other players I don't know. They stayed at home. That has been clarified. Maybe tomorrow or another day they will see the doctor."