Stan plans for life without Duff
Steve Staunton has ruled Damien Duff out of Republic of Ireland's
Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, which means he may not be fit for
new Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce before November.
Duff underwent foot surgery two weeks ago and Staunton does not
expect the player to return to action for another five or six
months.
Staunton, whose Ireland side face Ecuador in a friendly in America
on Wednesday, still have four qualifiers left to play, with trips
to Slovakia and Czech Republic and home dates with Cyprus and
Germany fulfilling their programme.
Ireland do not host the Germans until November, but Staunton has
already ruled Duff out of the reckoning.
"It's six months but it depends on when he gets the cast off. Who
knows what we're looking at but it's at least five to six months,"
said Staunton.
"I think we'll be planning [without him] for the campaign because
he'll only be regaining his fitness. If he comes back before that,
brilliant for us. And if he doesn't, well, I will have planned
without him."
