Ireland coach explains Canaries' snub

Giovanni Trapattoni claims he left Norwich's Wes Hoolahan out of his Republic of Ireland squad because he does not fit into his plans.

The Italian tactician announced his 23-man squad and stand-by list for the Euro 2012 finals, which get underway in Poland and Ukraine next month, and Hoolahan was absent along with his Canaries team-mate Anthony Pilkington, who has played for the Irish under-21s. Hoolahan has made 24 top-flight starts for Norwich this season and scored his fourth goal of the campaign in Saturday's 3-3 draw at Arsenal, but it was not enough to force his way into the squad. On Hoolahan, whose only senior appearance was as a second-half substitute in a 1-0 win over Colombia at Craven Cottage in May 2008, Trapattoni said: "Hoolahan is a great player, but when we knew Hoolahan he was already 28 or 29. Now he's 30. He plays well and I saw him score in his last game. "We saw many games of Hoolahan, Marco Tardelli and I. We do not forget him. We will build a team with other systems and other situation, also including James McCarthy and Steve Ireland. "But we couldn't change our system in this moment because we have a strong midfield and strong wingers. I don't want to change these two strikers. "I am convinced we couldn't play with one striker and one with Hoolahan. Maybe in a friendly but also in friendly games, these are important for the rankings."