Fulham winger Damien Duff has been ruled out for six weeks after undergoing Achilles surgery.
Fulham boss Mark Hughes explained that the club had opted for surgery after treatment had not cured the problem.
The midfielder is now set to miss all four of the Republic of Ireland’s next three friendly fixtures against Northern Ireland, Scotland and Italy, as well as the Euro 2012 qualifier against Macedonia.
Hughes said: “It just got to the point where one course of treatment was compromising another course of treatment.
“We made a decision that the best route was to get it sorted.”
More to follow.