Bale back but Keane injured

 

Ahead of the Home Nations' Tuesday qualifiers, Christian Crowther assesses the team news and how it may affect the betting...

 

Lescott backing Rooney to keep cool

Joleon Lescott, England's captain towards the end of their clash with San Marino, has backed teammate Wayne Rooney to rise above any potential provocation when England face Montenegro in Podgorica. The Manchester City player was of course referring to Rooney's last visit to the Montenegrin capital in which he received a straight red for lashing out at Miodrag Dzudovic, causing the striker to be unavailable for England's first two games of Euro 2012. Lescott, who should retain his place against the Group H leaders, insisted that Rooney had matured since the incident and believes his only focus will be on producing the goods for his country. Producing goods hasn't been a problem for England's number ten lately either; Rooney has notched in four successive Three Lions' appearances and bagged five in his last six.

Wayne Rooney is available at 6.0 to score the first goal against Montenegro

 

Gareth Bale should play for Wales

Gareth Bale's half-time exit on Friday night put Tottenham and Welsh hearts firmly in mouths. However, Bale's second-half absence failed to hamper a stirring Welsh comeback win and early fears about a potential ankle injury have been alleviated by the news that he should start against Croatia. With Aaron Ramsey now suspended following his late red against Scotland, this makes the best possible news for Chris Coleman, whose Welsh side had relied on Bale to score five of their past six goals leading up to that Hampden Park clash. Victory over this so far unbeaten Croatia side is unlikely but, if Wales are to breach them, then Bale is certainly the best candidate to notch.

Gareth Bale can be backed @ 3.65 to score at any time in Swansea

 

Keane is injured for key Republic of Ireland clash

Republic of Ireland captain Robbie Keane will miss his country's qualifier against Austria in Dublin on Tuesday night due to a calf injury. Ireland's all-time top scorer picked up the problem during Friday's hard-fought scrap with Sweden which finished 0-0 in Solna to keep the Boys in Green in striking distance of second place, just one point behind the Swedes. Wolves striker Kevin Doyle is the man to replace Keane in Giovanni Trapattoni's squad to face Austria, who are locked on seven points too ahead of this vital match. Given Ireland already possess the weakest attacking record of the three chasing teams, losing Keane is a major blow.

Under 2.5 goals is available @ 1.71

 

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