Bougherra to miss Ireland match

Algeria defender Madjid Bougherra will sit out the Friday’s international friendly with the Republic of Ireland at the RDS, to give a torn calf muscle time to heal ahead of the World Cup.

• The Rangers player has mainly trained under supervision during his country’s training camp at Crans Montana in Switzerland, but has upped his involvement with the rest of his team-mates this week.
• Bougherra, who is expected to be one of the key figures for the Desert Foxes in South Africa, has been hampered by injury problems throughout the season.
• His latest setback – a torn calf – meant he had to miss his club’s final four league games and he has also confirmed he will play in Dublin.
• “Physically I feel fit, but as for my injury, we don’t want to take any risks and rather let it heal quietly,” he told www.competition.dz.
• “Because of this I’m going to skip the game in Ireland. The most important thing for now is to be fully fit and ready for the World Cup.
• “The urge to play the game in Dublin is great, but as I said the main thing is that my wound heals. I am satisfied with progress in this regard, but will not take any risks so close to the World Cup.”
• The injury is similar to the one suffered by France defender William Gallas, who has been out since March, but Bougherra played down fears that he will be out for as long.
• “It is true that Gallas is slow to recover. With this kind of injury it must be well cared for and there must be no rush to return, otherwise you may regret it later.
• “But just to reassure everyone, my calf is fine, I’ll be 100 per cent back to normal soon.”

• After facing Ireland, Algeria will play a final friendly against the United Arab Emirates before opening their World Cup campaign against Slovenia on June 13th ahead of further group matches against England and the USA.