Republic of Ireland v Slovakia: With the benefit of hindsight, it could be that the Ireland manager's record-breaking press briefing on Monday was just his opening gambit in a game of Good Stan, Bad Stan.

Those arriving at Croke Park for yesterday's follow-up were unsure what to expect from the Louthman who had, predictably enough, been criticised in the papers for Monday's performance by journalists who generally try not to haul themselves across town for any engagement of less than 45 seconds in duration.

Still, most expected that things would settle down and that the prospective captain, Shay Given on this occasion, would attend the pre-match press conference with the manager, as has become routine.

In fact, the Donegalman did just that, but he was last to arrive in a room packed with reporters who had looked on as Staunton entered, informed the FAI's media officer that more seats would be required, and then sat, smiling, in silence for several minutes on the stage before being joined by Richard Dunne, Damien Duff and Kevin Kilbane.

Having assembled this all-star line-up Staunton then proceeded to save the assembled media from the ritual humiliation of having to speculate on this evening's team by naming it. It's tempting to suggest that, on the day that was in it, the changes he announced were also influenced by a desire to be nice (that, or an attempt to outflank his tormentors giving them precisely what they wanted), for Staunton certainly seemed to be addressing a few of the criticisms that were raised post-Wales.

Stephen Hunt's omission, though, provided firm evidence that the starting XI had not simply been compiled on the basis of some collective media wish list.

Though there is only one unforced change from the side that limped to victory on Saturday, Staunton's selection has an element of boldness about it. With Robbie Keane suspended, Kevin Doyle returns to the starting line-up, but it is the decision to start Celtic winger Aiden McGeady in place of Jonathan Douglas that prompted surprise in the auditorium.

The change, which will almost certainly mean that Kilbane switches to the centre and Stephen Ireland starts the game playing just off Doyle, should mean a much greater emphasis on attack, a point underlined when the manager remarked of McGeady: "He's a winger, he's very tricky, he's been great in training and he's played in the Champions League. After analysing the Slovaks over the last couple of months we feel that Aiden and Damien are going to be the key to us winning the game."

Staunton went further by admitting to having felt some disappointment with the way Saturday's tactics worked out, and he mentioned the failure of the full-backs to contribute more in this department. While he didn't rule out switching the sides on which John O'Shea and Steve Finnan play, the fact that he said it would be the "same back four" suggested that he would not.

"Saturday should have been a bit more attacking," he said. "Unfortunately we didn't retain the possession in the second half which caused us one or two problems. But that's football. We won the game, now it's gone. We believe that we've got players in the right positions to win this game."

It is certainly a team picked with the achievement of another victory in mind. Staunton had been vilified for being overly cautious at the weekend and has reacted positively by introducing a third attacking midfielder and starting Ireland where he has thrived so far.

Still, the selection of McGeady, who will celebrate his 21st birthday next week and who has only previously started the 4-0 defeat by the Netherlands and the 5-2 humiliation in Cyprus, carries an element of risk, as does the decision to hand Doyle the arduous role of lone striker so soon after his return from injury.

Kilbane should complement Lee Carsley in the centre better than Douglas on Saturday, and that change was not entirely unexpected. But the Everton midfielder will now carry a great deal more responsibility for breaking up the forward movement of Ireland's opponents and against significantly better players than those fielded by Wales.

Hunt's energetic performance on Saturday suggested that if started he might add vitality and inventiveness to the attack, as well as a willingness to lend a hand in defence. But Staunton's alternative indicates that he believes the Slovaks are particularly vulnerable on the flanks, an area the home side will seek to dominate in a way they failed to last time out.

The visitors insist that they have also come with the aim of winning. Their coach, Jan Kocian, admitted yesterday that the home defeats suffered against Germany and the Czech Republic have left his side with a need to pick up points away from home.

"We got three in Wales," he said, "another three in Cyprus and, who knows, maybe we can get another three in Dublin. But it will be difficult, Ireland have some very good players."

In those recent wins, though, they were fortunate to come up against opponents who, in the former instance, collapsed completely and, in the latter, sorely missed their two best players.

On this occasion they arrive without a couple of their own due to injury and having lost Jan Durica and Matej Krajcik to suspension due to bookings in Nicosia. They will still have some quality players in their starting line-up, including Martin Skrtel, Balazs Borbely, Marek Sapara and Robert Vittek.

The Irish will have to play dramatically better than they did against the Welsh, and a very great deal, of course, will depend on whether Staunton's assessment of them proves to be well judged. Good Stan or Bad Stan, then? We'll know a bit more by around 9.20 tonight.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND:Given (Newcastle United); O'Shea (Manchester United), McShane (West Brom), Dunne (Manchester City), Finnan (Liverpool); McGeady (Celtic), Carsley (Everton), Kilbane (Wigan Athletic), Duff (Newcastle United); Ireland (Manchester City); Doyle (Reading).

SLOVAKIA(probable): Contofalsky; Singlar, Skrtel, Klimpl, Gresko; Zofcak, Borbely, Sapara, Svento; Jakubko, Vittek.

•The FAI has a limited number of tickets available for tonight's game. Tickets are priced at €70 and €50 and will be on sale from the association's ticket office at Merrion Square until noon. The tickets are only available to personal callers. There will be no telephone sales.