Steve Finnan of Fulham ss

Fulham's Steve Finnan is in the Republic of Ireland squad for the crunch World Cup qualifier with Portugal.

Finnan came on as a sustitute in the 79th minute of the Republic's 3-1 victory over Andorra and while being happy to be in the 25-man party for the Group Two leaders' clash with Luis Figo and co, who are currently third in the table, will be looking for a longer run out against Portugal.

Republic skipper Roy Keane is in the squad after missing the Andorra success, while Blackburn winger Damien Duff also returns after injury for the Portugal game on June 2 and the trip to Portugal four days later. Robbie Keane, David Connolly and Niall Quinn - who needs one more goal to set a new Republic scoring record of 21 goals - are the only three recognised strikers in the squad.

The Republic, who have 4 more games to play, lead their group by 3 points from Holland and Portugal although Portugal have a game in hand.