Aston Villa defender Ciaran Clark has been drafted into the Republic of Ireland squad by Giovanni Trapattoni with the manager facing an injury crisis.
Clark, 23, received the call on Monday with Trapattoni forced to act after facing up to the loss of defender Sean St Ledger and midfielder Glenn Whelan.
Both suffered hamstring injuries while playing for their clubs over the weekend and are rated as extremely doubtful to be fit for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Germany and the Faroe Islands.
To make matters worse for the Italian, winger James McClean has been ruled out of the clash with Germany at the Aviva Stadium on Friday after a scan revealed the extent of the hip injury he suffered during Sunderland's 3-0 defeat at Manchester City on Sunday.
A spokesman for the Football Association of Ireland said: "The results of James McClean's scan this morning in Sunderland showed a grade one hip flexor strain which will certainly rule him out for the Germany match and may exclude him for the Faroe Islands.
"McClean will remain at his club to receive treatment.''
Trapattoni is without experienced defender Richard Dunne and lost striker Kevin Doyle on Friday, after he picked up a thigh problem training with Wolves.
Sunderland's David Meyler and Manchester United's Robbie Brady have already been drafted into the squad.
