IRISH defender Denis Irwin still doesn't know if he will have an active role when Manchester United seek to reach the final of the European Champions League at the expense of Borussia Dortmund at Old Trafford tomorrow.

In declining to speculate on the likely make up of his team yesterday, United manager Alex Ferguson surprised nobody, least of all Irwin.

The Corkman hasn't started a game since Dortmund won the first leg of the semi-final 1-0 in Germany on April 9th. Since then Irwin has played just to minutes of football coming on as a late replacement against Derby County, and, significantly, he was left on the bench for the vital Liverpool game on Saturday morning.

Officially, the reason for his absence from the starting team is a groin strain, sustained in Ireland's game in Macedonia three weeks ago. However, another factor may be that United manager Alex Ferguson believes fatigue has caught up on the full back in recent months.

Apart from goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, nobody has reported for work at United more consistently than Irwin in the last four years and perhaps this has shown in some of his performances this season.

Yet the likelihood is that in a match where he needs all available experience, Ferguson will ponder long on the Irishman's claims when he picks the players for the most important game in years at Old Trafford.

"Irwin trained on Sunday and again today (Monday) and at this point, I don't have any real worries about his fitness," said Ferguson who may not name his team until just before the kick-off.

Meanwhile Germany's international sweeper Matthias Sammer, now looks almost certain to miss the clash at Old Trafford.

Sammer is recovering from a ruptured thigh muscle and has only played 13 out of 28 matches in the German Bundesliga and four out of nine games in the European Champions League this season because of injuries and suspension.

Among those monitoring Irwin's situation is Ireland manager Mick McCarthy, who needs to be reassured about Irwin's fitness before taking the full back to Bucharest for next week's World Cup game against Romania.

An added worry for McCarthy is Middlesbrough player Curtis Fleming's fitness problems which are threatening his part in tonight's FA Cup semi-final replay against Chesterfield at Hillsborough.

A rib injury kept Fleming out of the English League Cup final replay against Leicester City and he was again absent when Middlesbrough lost their vital relegation game against Sunderland on Saturday.

Despite a big contribution to his team's eventful season one suspects the Dubliner is required primarily as cover in Romania. Given that seven of those named in the preliminary squad are capable of playing at wing back, McCarthy will not be short of options if he is forced to make a change at the back.

Yet having recognised Fleming's ability at club level by putting him into his preliminary 5d the Irish manager would not wish to lose him now, particularly if Irwin's problem recurs.

McCarthy, who arrives in Dublin on Friday to build up to the World Cup game, had little fresh news yesterday after the weekend programme in the Premiership.

The exception was Alan Moore, a club mate of Fleming's, who injured an ankle 26 minutes into the vital Sunderland relegation game. He was still under treatment yesterday, when Bryan Rob son described his chances of recovering for tonight's FA Cup match against Chesterfield as no better than moderate.

It now looks increasingly unlikely that Sunderland's Niall Quinn will be summoned to join the Irish squad following manager Peter Reid's decision to leave him out of the important relegation game against Middlesbrough at Riverside Stadium at the weekend.

A 1-0 win did much to ease Sunderland's relegation fears and the word from Roker Park yesterday was that the Irishman may make the starting line-up for the first time since undergoing knee surgery last October in tonight's home game against Southampton.

That would be an important watershed for Quinn on his long road back but it may still not be enough to persuade McCarthy to gamble on his fitness against Romania.

These are deeply worrying days for McCarthy as he assesses his resources for an assignment which, on the evidence of the last couple of months, looks more treacherous than ever. Ireland have now gone three games without a win since outplaying Macedonia 3-0 at Lansdowne Road in October and in assessing the slump it may be pertinent to look at the fortunes of Irish players involved in last Saturday's Premiership.

In addition to Irwin and Fleming, Terry Phelan failed to prove his fitness and was left out of Everton's 2-2 draw with West Ham, a game in which 17-year-old Dubliner Richard Dunne, again illustrated his remarkable rate of improvement.

Significantly, Shay Given, Ian Harte, Jon Goodman and Gary Breen had to be content with substitutes' roles, with only Goodman getting on for a spell in Wimbledon's 31 defeat by Sheffield Wednesday.

Of those who did start, Moore was early in the wars, a fate also suffered by Jason McAteer who failed to see out Liverpools' top-of-the-table Premiership meeting with Manchester United at Anfield.

On the positive side, Steve Staunton marked his return to Aston Villa's team after a two-match absence with a convincing performance against Tottenham and is now certain to travel to Bucharest. "Steve's fitness had been a source of some concern but, thankfully, he played well against Tottenham and that has to be good news for our World Cup match," said McCarthy.