SOCCER: In accordance with his new-found devotion to secrecy, Mick McCarthy will keep his starting line-up for tomorrow's European Championship qualifier at Lansdowne Road under wraps until an hour before kick-off.
But with the Ireland manager sure to remain loyal to both the system employed in Moscow and nine of the starters there, his Swiss counterpart, Kobi Kuhn, is in for few surprises.
The Republic of Ireland manager continued to weigh up his options for the one vacancy available ahead of tomorrow's game - on the right side of midfield - at yesterday morning's training session. And having subsequently underlined his preference for persisting with Damien Duff alongside Robbie Keane in attack, it appears increasingly likely that Everton's Lee Carsley is about to make his first competitive start for Ireland since the first leg of the European Championship play-offs against Turkey three years ago.
Carsley's recent return to the Everton first team, on the right side of midfield as it happens, was repeatedly mentioned by McCarthy when he flew into Dublin last week to unveil his squad, and although he named Gary Kelly, Colin Healy and Damien Duff as his other options yesterday, the 28-year-old's uncomplaining service over the past few years looks to have placed him at the top of the queue.
"There's a few things I could do," said McCarthy yesterday. "Gary Kelly could play there with John O'Shea at right back. Colin Healy's done well there for us when he's played, and obviously Duffer's an option, but I still think Robbie and him are our best pair up front."
Even setting aside O'Shea's relative lack of experience, though, McCarthy has said on a number of occasions that he sees the Waterford-born player as a central defender, while Healy's lack of regular of first-team football is certain to count against him, despite some fine performances for the international side during the first half of this year.
Another option would be to start with Stephen McPhail in central midfield and use Matt Holland out on the right, but again McCarthy is unlikely to entrust a younger player with such responsibility for what is, after last month's nightmare in Moscow, a critical game for the Irish.
In training yesterday Carsley and Duff were the two players who spent most of their time out wide on the right, while Clinton Morrison put in a lengthy spell alongside Keane. But having suggested on Sunday evening that he may have over-committed to attack in the opening qualifier, McCarthy may well err on the side of caution this time.
"It's funny when you think how many we've had there (on the right), just recently," said McCarthy as he reflected on the situation. "But all of a sudden we're without Jason McAteer, Rory Delap, Steve Finnan, Jeff Kenna. Stevie Carr's still out."
With Delap's departure from the squad yesterday due to a calf strain, the Republic of Ireland manager is down to 19 senior players, and so McCarthy told Don Givens yesterday that he wants Graham Barrett and Thomas Butler to join his squad after this evening's under-21 match.
McCarthy, meanwhile, who confirmed his previously stated intention to see out his current contract before departing ("unless we were to win the European Championships, that might change my mind"), said the players had their first glimpse of the Swiss on Sunday evening when the squad spent the evening watching a video of last month's game between Kuhn's side and Georgia.
"I think they were impressed by what they saw," he remarked. "Georgia had a good bit of the ball but they got beaten 4-1 because the way he (Kuhn) has set up his team, they are quite happy to be attacked. It all just sets it up nicely for Hakan Yakin to get forward on the break."
Asked about his overall knowledge of the Swiss, McCarthy admitted that it is fairly limited, but, he added, "with some of the results that Basle have had in the Champions League, I think their football has been pushed to the fore a bit. They firmly believe that this group is between Russia, ourselves and them, and having seen them I don't disagree."
Meanwhile, Don Givens is hoping that his under-21 side can put last month's disappointing start to the new European Championship qualifying campaign behind them this evening at Buckley Park where they take on Switzerland.
"They know that on an individual level they failed to perform and they need to redress the balance."
"It will be a hard game because the Swiss (under-21 European semi-finalists last time around and current under-17 European champions) have got their structures right of late and they're producing a lot of very good young players. But the win over the seniors in the practice game on Sunday gave our lads a bit of a buzz and they're all looking forward to it."
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND UNDER-21: Murphy (West Brom); Thompson (Nottingham Forest), Goodwin (Stockport County), Byrne (Sunderland), Tierney (Manchester United); Butler (Sunderland), Miller (Celtic), Reid (Nottingham Forest), Houlihan (Shelbourne); Daly (Stockport County), Barrett (Arsenal - on loan to Brighton).
