Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given to see knee specialist

Shay Given (GETTY IMAGES)

Republic of Ireland keeper Shay Given will travel to London tomorrow to consult a specialist over his knee injury.

The 36-year-old, who has missed training for the last two days after sustaining the problem, will return to Ireland's Portmarnock base the same day with the camp insisting the visit to a doctor he has used before is purely precautionary.

A Football Association of Ireland spokesman said: "Shay Given will travel to London tomorrow to visit a knee specialist that he has seen in the past. He will return to Portmarnock in the evening.

"This is purely precautionary and Shay remains fine for the Euros."

Given left training early on Monday morning and although there was no major concern over his injury, the decision to rest him for two or three days was taken as a precaution.

Manager Giovanni Trapattoni remains confident the Aston Villa goalkeeper will be fit for the Euro 2012 finals, but had already all but ruled him out of Saturday's friendly against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The news came less than an hour after the Italian had drafted Paul McShane into the squad as defensive cover with Richard Dunne, John O'Shea, Sean St Ledger and Kevin Foley all struggling for the weekend.

PA