Reading forward Shane Long has revealed he was told to lie about why he missed the Republic of Ireland's Euro2008 qualifier against Cyprus.

Long was serving a five-match under-age team ban after a red card sustained playing for the Under-19's last year. Because the Cyprus game coincided with an international under-21 game, he was suspended from international duty, as he had been for the game against Slovakia in September, when he was an unused substitute.

If Long had come off the bench in Bratislava, the Slovaks would have been awarded a 3-0 victory as a punishment for the error.

FAI officials decided to state publicly that Long has sustained a groin injury and would be unavailable to play against Cyprus, rather than admit to the mistake.

Long said: "I was told [about the injury] all right, yeah, but I think they have their reasons for everything and I just said OK, fair enough, and let's get on with it.

"I just kept my head down and concentrated on my football back here."