The question of whether or not Mick McCarthy rests the four players in his squad who are currently carrying yellow cards against Cyprus this Saturday continued to be the main point of interest round the Irish camp yesterday.

On the face of it, the manager himself was declining to decide the issue with a straight yes or no but he nevertheless went on to make a fairly powerful case for letting them sit this one out.

In slightly different circumstances, Kenny Cunningham, Mark Kinsella, Jason McAteer and Robbie Keane could probably all count on being included in McCarthy's first choice 11.

Just now, however, nobody is more keenly aware than McCarthy that there are likely to be bigger fish to fry just around the corner.

"It's a difficult choice," he said, "because it would be a nonsense if we went out and didn't get the win and suddenly discovered that the miracle of Bulgaria had stuck again.

"Make no mistake, I want to finish with 24 points in this group no matter what happens in the other game," he added. "And, after Estonia were one up here after 38 minutes, we can't take anybody lightly. But, we're playing at home, we've just beaten the Dutch and we've prepared properly, I think it should be our performance that determines the result of the game rather than anything Cyprus do. And it shouldn't really matter who plays because anybody in the squad should be able to perform if they get the chance to play."

The Ireland boss went on to point out that it is the ongoing uncertainty over the play-off games that is a major influence on his thinking ahead of this game.

"If there are definitely going to be two games," he said, "then fine, there is some room to make up ground if something goes wrong in the first. But if it's a one-off then I've got to make sure that I have my strongest team available to me."

The logical conclusion then is that the four will start the game on the sidelines even if at least one or two make the bench. That will mean that, in addition to replacing Damien Duff, Richard Dunne and Gary Kelly, all of whom are absent this time, McCarthy will have to make at least two more changes to the side that started on September 1st.

Up front, there is set to be a completely changed partnership and, through the Ireland manager continued to play his cards close to his chest regarding most of the vacancies, he at least confirmed yesterday that Niall Quinn, who along with Roy Keane scored in yesterday's 2-1 training game victory over the under-21s, will return to lead the attack against the Cypriots.

Saturday will be the big Dubliner's 35th birthday and the start will represent another chance to set a new Irish record for the Sunderland striker who continues to chase his 21st international goal in what will be his 86th appearance for his country.

"I'd love him to score," says McCarthy, "and not because it's his birthday or because of the record or any of that. It's just the cold, hard professional in me.

"Quinny's certainly scoring a few at the moment and he's been through a few games since the last time he was with us which is great, it's like he's had a new lease of life. I heard last time about how he mightn't be around for much longer but I want us to qualify for this World Cup and I want Niall to be there with us."

Quinn, for his part, said afterwards that he would love to go to Japan and Korea if the chance arises, as long as he feels that he has something to offer.

With the former Arsenal and Manchester City striker insisting that, having adopted some of the stretching exercises that helped Steve Bould to extend his playing career, he feels better now than at any time during the past few seasons, he's likely to have that next summer all right.

And even that may not spell the end for a striker whose career has been written off more than once over the past few years.