SOCCER:GIOVANNI TRAPATTONI'S first-choice strike partnership may be fit to play against Macedonia this Saturday after all, but, having made an impression against Wales last month when his sheer industry contributed so much to Ireland's second-half dominance, Jonathan Walters hasn't given up on making his competitive international debut this weekend.

“I want to play, of course I do,” said the Stoke City striker in the wake of scoring his club’s first goal in a 4-0 victory against Newcastle United at the weekend.

“I feel fit at the moment and it’s an honour to step out on the pitch every time I get the chance to do so.

“It’s a big game for us,” he added, “and for the three Stoke lads going over there. We will be buzzing after the last six days here.”

The 27-year-old’s goal at the weekend was his eighth of what is developing into a very solid first season at City, but he still seems likely to have to settle for a place on the bench this Saturday evening after Robbie Keane suggested over the weekend that, far from being incapable of playing against Macedonia or Uruguay, he feels the international games have come at just the right time for him and that he is hoping to feature in both before returning to West Ham, whose first game after the break is against Manchester United.

Walters was just one of a number of Irish internationals to score in Britain over the weekend, but despite Trapattoni’s vacancy at right back, caused by the loss through injury of John O’Shea, Steven Reid is not amongst the players gathering in Malahide this morning.

The West Brom player, who had not scored since 2006, admitted after his early headed opener from a corner against Arsenal that he could not really remember how to celebrate and found himself instinctively looking to get back into position on the right side of the team’s defence where he is playing these days, after the ball hit the back of the net.

The 30-year-old, who has suggested he would return to the Irish squad if asked to, says that he is, first and foremost, just happy to be playing regularly again after the succession of injury problems he has suffered over the past couple of years.

“I feel grateful every time I step over the white line,” he says. “I don’t take it for granted now. Any game could be your last and that’s how I see it now.

“The last couple of years have been a nightmare for me with injuries, so every time I play now I just give it my all and I am delighted to do it.”

Despite Stoke’s cup semi-final win last weekend, a victory over Newcastle that lifts them to 10th in the Premier League table and the involvement of so many of their players – like Walters, Glenn Whelan and Marc Wilson in international squads – Stoke City was a club in shock yesterday as news spread that one of its most loved former players, Terry Conroy, was fighting for his life in hospital.

The 64-year-old former Ireland international, who was working at Saturday’s game, suffered a vascular aneurism and a spokesman for North Staffordshire Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery, described his condition yesterday, as “critical but stable”.

In addition to working at the Britannia stadium in recent years, greeting supporters and corporate guests, Conroy, who won 26 caps for Ireland between 1969, when he made his debut against Czechoslovakia, and 1977, has also been employed by the FAI, with Department of Foreign Affairs support, as a welfare officer for Irish footballers in Britain.

A spokesman for the organisation said last night that the “thoughts and prayers of everyone at the association are with Terry and his family at this time.”

North Staffordshire Hospital, meanwhile, issued a statement saying that: “Mr Conroy is conscious and able to communicate and has been joined at his bedside by two of his three daughters. His wife and another daughter are returning home from Australia to be by his side.”

Meanwhile, Jim Gannon’s eventful spell as Port Vale manager ended yesterday after just 74 days, with the club deciding to act in order to put a halt to what it regarded as a slide out of contention for promotion from League Two.

“His vision for the club was very good,” observed chairman Bill Bratt yesterday, “but it just didn’t work out.”

Gannon’s short time at Vale Park was a roller coaster ride, with the club initially struggling to pick up points, then going on a strong run of form only to lose their way again in recent weeks.

Along the way, a number of his team selections had caused considerable controversy among supporters and he was involved in a dispute with his assistant Geoff Horsfield on the way to Aldershot for a game last month that ended with both men having to get off the team coach.

The 42-year-old has previously been in charge at Dundalk, Stockport, Peterborough and Motherwell.