Alan Maybury will be offered the chance of retrieving a career which deviated sharply off course this season when the Republic of Ireland complete their European Championship preparations against Northern Ireland at Lansdowne Road this afternoon.

The game, in aid of the Omagh disaster fund, will be the first between the two Ireland senior teams in a non-competitive fixture and for Maybury, it represents a timely opportunity of proving that at 20, his is a talent which can be ripened with time.

A knee injury which kept him out for the first half of the season caused him to miss the bus when David O'Leary embarked on his ambitious youth policy at Leeds United and subsequently, he went on loan to Reading.

If his promotion from the under-21 squad is now down primarily, to the absence of Denis Irwin, Steve Staunton and Ian Harte, it is still a significant development for a player who impressed on his senior international debut in the Czech Republic last season.

Elsewhere in the team, there is a recall for Phil Babb, who, in the absence of Gary Breen, will join Kenny Cunningham in central defence. Breen's toe injury is expected to have responded to treatment in time for the game against Yugoslavia but, no less than other of his senior teammates, the Liverpool player will be anxious to put down a marker for the bigger tests, looming over the next 10 days.

Undeniably, his form has suffered in the general decline of Liverpool in this, most trying of all seasons at Anfield. That is reflected in the fact that he hasn't started an Ireland game since the 2-0 defeat of Croatia last August but removed now from the pressures of competitive football, he will be anxious to prove that the talent which sustained him in his first three seasons in the national team, is still imposing.

Perhaps the most interesting placing in the team is that of Mark Kennedy on the right side of midfield. A specialist left-sided player, he was shunted to the opposite side of the line to facilitate the second-half introduction of Damien Duff against Sweden and did sufficiently well there to warrant a further chance.

"Mark's a lad who has nothing to prove to me - I've always rated him," said Mick McCarthy. "That said, I was very impressed by his positive attitude against the Swedes and also in the manner in which he tracked back to put Jesper Blomqvist out of the game.

Kennedy, of course, put his name on the flamboyant second half goal which ensured Sweden's first defeat in nine games and he recalls that strike as a possible turning point in his career.

"Things hadn't gone all that well for me at Wimbledon up to that point but after scoring at Lansdowne Road, I got back in the side for the last three games," he said. "It was a good end to the season for me at the club and now, hopefully, I can go and build on it."

In spite of that impressive finish to Wimbledon's Premiership programme or perhaps because of it Kennedy's name has again surfaced in the transfer market with reports linking him to Bradford. He said that he has not been approached by the Yorkshire club but added pointedly that he intends to speak with Joe Kinnear on the manager's recovery from illness.

With Roy Keane out of contention for both the Yugoslav and Macedonian fixtures, Lee Carsley is now the leading candidate to replace him in central midfield. If he does, McCarthy has no fears about his ability to make an influential contribution.

"Lee was in the team for the World Cup play-off against Belgium and I thought he was outstanding in a very important game," he said. "Every time he's played for Ireland he's done well and I would have no fears about putting him in the side for any big game."

Up front, Niall Quinn will be partnered by Robbie Keane in what is almost certain to be a dress rehearsal for them for the Yugoslav game. And for Quinn, there is the added honour of captaining the team in the absence of Roy Keane and Steve Staunton.

Commenting on that appointment, McCarthy said: "He's got the job because of his experience and the day that is in it. I cannot think of a finer person to lead out the team in this particular game".

Unlike the Republic, Northern Ireland have finished their European commitments for the season and will not be in action again after today's game until an attractive pre-season friendly against the world champions France at Windsor Park in August.

Lawrie McMenemy, entrusted with the task of reviving their fortunes would be the first to acknowledge that things have not gone as well as he hoped when he first set down in Belfast.

Badly handicapped by the lack of genuine goalscorers in his team, he has failed to work the minor miracle demanded of him and already, the prospect of taking his squad to the European finals has been lost in a series of unconvincing performances.

Yet he believes the ground work has been established for better things in the new season and that, in spite of the disappointing results, his younger players will have benefited from the experience.

Unfortunately, he must plan for today's game with a squad seriously weakened by the absence of many proven performers. Included in this category are Keith Gillespie, Steve Lomas, Jim Magilton and Philip Mulryne. Additionally, play-off ties over the next 48 hours will deprive him of the services of Watford's Peter Kennedy and the Manchester City trio, Tommy Wright, Kevin Horlock and Jeff Whitley.

It means that he will start with only one regular Premiership player, Leicester's Neil Lennon. That confers a marked advantage in experience on the home team but with players like Barry Hunter, Keith Rowland and the faithful Iain Dowie in support, its just possible that Lennon can inspire them to a big performance.

In the sense that conditions on the island have normalised to the extent that teams from North and South can meet without recourse to extravagant security measures, today's game is vested with unusual significance.

But its bigger selling point by far, is the fact that the proceeds will go to the Omagh Fund. No more worthy cause has presented itself to the Irish people and while the initial sale of tickets has been slow, the hope is that Lansdowne Road will still be well populated for two hours or more today.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: S Given (Newcastle): S Carr (Tottenham), K Cunningham (Wimbledon), P Babb (Liverpool), A Maybury (Leeds Utd): M Kennedy (Wimbledon), L Carsley (Blackburn), M Kinsella (Charlton), D Duff (Blackburn): N Quinn (Sunderland), Robbie Keane (Wolves).

NORTHERN IRELAND (Probable): M Taylor (Fulham): A Hughes (Newcastle), B Hunter (Reading), M Williams (Chesterfield), D Griffin (St Johnstone): J McCarthy (Birmingham), D Johnson (Blackburn), N Lennon (Leicester), K Rowland (QPR): I Dowie (QPR), James Quinn (West Ham).