Irish manager Brian Kerr today spoke of the benefits of having his squad together for this week's five-day training camp in Dublin.
There is little over two weeks before the Republic of Ireland face Albania and Georgia at Lansdowne Road. Action across the channel drew to a close 10 days ago for most of the squad, leaving the players somewhat idle since.
The Dublin get-together has been targeted by Kerr to maintain players' focus and fitness levels.
He explained: "Some of the players have had a week or two off. Some of them have behaved quite differently in that time with some saying they needed a complete break and did nothing at all while others that hadn't played so many matches just kept ticking over.
"You have to take a balance on that. We've tried to accommodate all the needs and some are doing a little bit extra like using the gym after the sessions. We were all glad to get running yesterday and blow some cobwebs away".
All bar Bohemians striker Glen Crowe - who will be released tomorrow for the home tie with Drogheda United - have completed their seasons, so Kerr assembled an original group of 22 to bridge the gap before the crunch Euro 2004 qualifiers with Albania on June 7th and Georgia on June 11th.
The Irish manager will organise a training match this afternoon and has drafted in St Patrick's Athletic's Liam George and Bohemians duo Jason McGuinness and John Lester to make up the numbers following Steven Reid and Joe Murphy's decision to remain at their clubs for treatment.
"It's important to keep the players ticking over and we'll have a game today and on Saturday which gives them a bit of match practice. The alternative was to go play a friendly game as some countries have done . . . but I don't think that would have been the right thing for us at this time of the year".
Robbie Keane spoke of the benefits of extra training. The striker, who was leading scorer at Tottenham this season with 13 goals, has had his fair share of injuries this campaign and appreciates the importance of maintaining fitness and morale in between the season's end and next month's vital double header.
"It's very important," he said. "You couldn't really have three or four weeks off, it just wouldn't be right for us. The training has been good and fairly relaxed and I think all the lads are enjoying it".