Fahey in Ireland reckoning for Andorra

The Republic of Ireland host Andorra hoping to record a third victory in three encounters against their UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying Group B rivals.

Team news
• Keith Fahey may have played himself into Ireland's starting lineup after the Birmingham City FC midfield player scored his first international goal to give Giovanni Trapattoni's side a 1-0 win in Armenia.

• Fahey scored only nine minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute for Aiden McGeady and said: "Scoring the winner for Ireland in a qualifier is the stuff you dream about as a kid. It was nice to get the goal but the three points is the main thing and it sets us up for Tuesday against Andorra."

• Republic of Ireland squad
Goalkeepers: Shay Given (Manchester City FC), Kieren Westwood (Coventry City FC), Joe Murphy (Scunthorpe United FC)
Defenders: John O'Shea (Manchester United FC), Richard Dunne (Aston Villa FC), Sean St Ledger (Preston North End FC), Greg Cunningham (Manchester City FC), Kevin Foley (Wolverhampton Wanderers FC), Stephen Kelly (Fulham FC), Paul McShane (Hull City AFC), Darren O'Dea (Ipswich Town FC), Kevin Kilbane (Hull City AFC)
Midfielders: Glenn Whelan (Stoke City FC), Darron Gibson (Manchester United FC), Paul Green (Derby County FC), Liam Lawrence (Stoke City FC), Aiden McGeady (FC Spartak Moskva), Keith Fahey (Birmingham City FC), Keith Treacy (Preston North End FC)
Forwards: Andy Keogh (Cardiff City FC), Robbie Keane (Tottenham Hotspur FC), Kevin Doyle (Wolverhampton Wanderers FC), Shane Long (Reading FC), Cillian Sheridan (PFC CSKA Sofia)

• Jesús Álvarez's first competitive game as Andorra coach ended in a 2-0 defeat by Russia on Friday. Sebastiàn Gómez was handed his first start outside of friendlies for the visit of Dick Advocaat's side, while Ivan Lorenzo and Daniel Mejías both came off the bench to win their maiden competitive caps.

• "We expect a tougher, more intensive match than the game against Russia," said Alvarez. "They are a very strong team; they have clear ideas of what they’re doing and they narrowly missed out on qualification for the World Cup finals. Their players have a lot of international experience. We have plenty of things to be worried about."

• Andorra squad
Goalkeepers: Josep Gómes (CD Ciudad de Vícar), Ferran Pol Pérez (FC Andorra), Josep Rivas Prieto (UE Santa Coloma)
Defenders: Jordi Escura (FC Alcarrás), Xavier Gil (FC Santa Coloma), Ildefons Lima (AC Bellinzona), Alexandre Martínez (UE Santa Coloma), Jordi Rubio (UE Santa Coloma), Alex Somoza (FC Andorra), Óscar Sonejee (FC Santa Coloma)
Midfielders: Xavi Andorrà (FC Andorra), Josep Ayala, (FC Andorra), Marc Bernaus (FC Girona), Manuel Jiménez (FC Santa Coloma), Daniel Mejías (FC Andorra), Sergio Moreno (Hellín Deportivo), Marc Pujol (FC Andorra), Marcio Vieira (Atlético de Monzón), Samir Bousenine (FC Andorra), Cristian Martínez (FC Andorra)
Forwards: Sebastiá Gómez (UE Sant Julià), Iván Lorenzo (UD Alcampell), Fernando Silva (Imperio de Mérida CP)

Match background
• The Republic of Ireland's record in two games against Andorra reads W2 D0 L0 (W1 D0 L0 at home).

• Both previous meetings came in qualifying for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, with Ireland winning the first meeting 3-0 in Barcelona on 28 March 2001. Ian Harte, Kevin Kilbane and Matt Holland found the net for the visitors.

• Andorra caused a surprise in the return fixture at Lansdowne Road in Dublin on 25 April the same year when Ildefons Lima opened the scoring on 31 minutes. Kilbane responded just two minutes later, though, before Mark Kinsella (36) and Gary Breen (73) completed a 3-1 victory.

• Ireland went on to take second place in qualifying Group 2 and qualified for the finals after beating Iran 3-0 on aggregate in a play-off. Andorra finished bottom of the section with ten defeats from ten games.