Ireland trio ruled out of Serbia clash

Andy Reid, Rob Elliot and Kevin Doyle have all been ruled out of the Republic of Ireland’s friendly with Serbia on Wednesday.

Ireland face Serbia at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin striving to continue their unbeaten start to life under Martin O’Neill, who took over from Giovanni Trapattoni in November.

However, O’Neill’s hopes of securing a second win in three games as manager have been dealt a blow by the injuries to the trio.

Nottingham Forest midfielder Reid misses out because of a groin injury, while Newcastle United goalkeeper Elliot is unavailable due to a knee problem.

QPR striker Doyle also misses out, the 30-year-old withdrawn from the squad with a thigh complaint.

Ireland earned a 3-0 win over Latvia and a 0-0 draw with Poland in O’Neill’s first two games in charge and will look to seal another positive result as they build towards the qualification campaign for the 2016 UEFA European Championships.

O’Neill’s men have been drawn in Group D in qualifying for the tournament, along with Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Poland and Scotland.