Kevin de Bruyne to miss Belgium's clash against Ireland at Aviva

Kevin De Bruyne will not be part of the Belgium squad that travels to Dublin to face the Republic of Ireland for a friendly on Saturday week.

The Red Devils will finetune their preparations for this summer's Euros with games against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium and England at Wembley.

The likes of Romelu Lukaku (Roma), Jeremy Doku (Manchester City) and Leandro Trossard (Arsenal) will be involved but De Bruyne has been omitted due to a minor groin injury.

The City superstar was taken off against Liverpool at Anfield last Sunday much to his annoyance. De Bruyne was caught on camera exchanging words with manager Pep Guardiola as he took his seat on the bench.

On Thursday, Belgium boss Domenico Tadesco revealed that De Bruyne has been playing with a niggle.

"I don't know if there is a connection to his hamstring injury. It is now a problem on the groin that he struggled with in the last few matches," said Tedesco, whose contract has been extended for two more years to take him to the 2026 World Cup.

"Yesterday I spoke to the doctor and Kevin and we decided the risk is too great. It is our responsibility to take into account the player but also the player's club.

"It is better to give him time to recover well at City and then have him ready for the European Championship. We can't take a risk now and certainly not with Kevin."

Interim Ireland head coach John O'Shea will name his squad this afternoon.

BELGIUM SQUAD TO FACE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

Goalkeepers: Arnaud Bodart, Koen Casteels, Thomas Kaminski, Matz Sels

Defenders: Timothy Castagne, Koni De Winter, Zeno Debast, Wout Faes, Thomas Meunier, Arthur Theate, Jan Vertonghen

Midfielders: Olivier Deman, Jeremy Doku, Dodi Lukebakio, Orel Mangala, Amadou Onana, Youri Tielemans, Arthur