Despite not playing all season, Richard Dunne could win a shock recall to the Republic of Ireland squad.
The 33-year old centre-half, who will soon be released by Aston Villa, has been sidelined by a groin injury which denied him the chance to play any competitive fixtures during the 2012/13 season but may be called on for a friendly with Georgia in early June before a World Cup qualifier with the Faroe Islands.
"Now is England and Georgia; the Faroes is a qualifier," said Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni ahead of the May 29 friendly with England at Wembley.
"He would have to be 100 per cent fit. Don't forget, this injury has been 10 months, one year. It was a bad injury and then he had surgery.
"Only if he was very, very okay, 100 per cent. But there are two or three questions: he is without a club; he is many months without a game; and it's a qualifier.
"But for us, he will be again important in the future. I spoke with him and I clarified his position, his position with the club and his position for us. We need Richard in the future.
"But he has no club at this moment. I said, 'Richard, we will help you because you deserve respect, but you have no team at this moment and you must be careful because an injury could be for you very, very dangerous'.
"We have more respect for him. I said we will go step by step. We have these two opportunities and we can assess his condition after the next two or three days.
"Sure, I want to help him. He will not start the game, but during the game depending on the score, we could give him an opportunity to play with us."
