NOEL KING HAS trimmed his Ireland squad for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers against Germany and Kazakhstan.

While the caretaker boss has cut three players from his initial squad of 26, Darron Gibson, Andy Reid and Anthony Stokes all retain their spots. The trio rarely featured under former boss Giovanni Trapattoni.

The news is another bright spot for Stokes, who was on the scoresheet again this afternoon in Celtic’s 2 — 0 win over Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership.

The 23-man squad sees Paul McShane, Stephen Quinn and Paul Green drop out from the larger grouping that King announced on Tuesday. A statement from the FAI read:

Damien Delaney, who was added into the provisional squad on Thursday after he passed a late fitness test at his club, remains in the final squad. [Goalkeeper] Darren Randolph misses out in order to have treatment on a shoulder injury at his club making way for Newcastle’s Rob Elliot, who receives his first senior call up.

“Jon Walters will be medically assessed at his club tomorrow to determine whether he will report for duty on Monday after being substituted in the 70th minute in Stoke’s game against Fulham today [groin].”

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