SOCCER:JOHN O'SHEA is out of next week's European Championship qualifier against Macedonia after scans revealed the hamstring injury he sustained playing for Manchester United in the Champions League on Tuesday night will sideline him for more than a month.

“Johnny O’Shea’s got a hamstring that’ll keep him out for maybe five weeks,” said Alex Ferguson yesterday. “It’s not a good one,” added the Manchester United manager.

The injury means O’Shea, who has already missed a significant portion of the season through injury, is set to miss three Premier League games, the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City and both legs of United’s Champions League quarter-final.

The loss of the 29-year-old will come as cruel blow to Giovanni Trapattoni who is already without Shay Given and likely to be missing Richard Dunne for the Macedonia match.

Dunne, meanwhile, has been disciplined by Aston Villa for his part in a row also involving James Collins and several members of the club’s coaching staff that took place during a “team bonding” trip last week. “It was dealt with by the club quickly and strongly but also internally, so I don’t want to go into details over the rest,” said manager Gerard Houllier yesterday. “I’m not going to talk about the specifics of this incident. We all make mistakes and sometimes you have to be aware of that and deal with that and understand that they are young.”

James McCarthy yesterday contacted the FAI to confirm his intention to join up with the Irish squad next week. The move came as Wigan boss Roberto Martinez again suggested the player has not made a final decision on whether his international future lies with Ireland or Scotland.

Trapattoni confirmed on Monday the player told him last week he wants to continue to play for the Republic but Martinez continues to contend no final decision has been reached by the 20-year-old. “It is very unfair to try to put him under this massive pressure, it has been growing day by day,” said the Wigan boss. “He needs to have time and space to make the right decision as to who he wants to play for at international level. I don’t see it as a deadline for him to make a decision. I think his career has always been allowed to progress and his international career should be the same. I don’t expect a final decision unless James is ready for it.”