Robson expected back next month-FAI

Koen Freriks

23 augustus 2006, 09:16

Football Association of Ireland chief executive John Delaney expects Republic of Ireland international advisor Sir Bobby Robson to be fit to travel with the Irish squad for the October qualifiers against Cyprus and the Czech Republic.

Robson, who collapsed during Ipswich Town's first game of the season earlier this month, will undergo surgery to remove a tumour from his brain this week.

As a result, he will miss the trip to Stuttgart for the Euro 2008 opener against Germany on Saturday week - but Delaney is confident that the former England boss will be back at Steve Staunton's side for the qualification double-header in mid-October.

He said: "His medical team are advising him that it is a simple operation for something that sounds a lot worse than it actually is. At this stage, he is all talk about October, so we've no fears.