Mick seems to be well placed in the striking front, so to be, just now with Robbie Keane, David Connolly and Clinton Morrison all scoring for their clubs over the weekend. The latter pair scored two apiece and McCarthy was at Selhurst Park on Saturday to see Morrison in action against Sheffield Wednesday. And Robbie Keane's goal against Ipswich yesterday rounded off a fine week for him.

Niall Quinn's outstanding form of late suggests that what is up for grabs in next Saturday's starting line-up for the Irish is a vacancy as the big Sunderland player's striking partner, and though McCarthy denied last night that he has ever said he will rest players currently on a yellow card, the suspicion is that either Morrison or Connolly will start.

Another man on a booking going into the game is the hero of last month's win over the Dutch, Jason McAteer, which means that there may well be an opening on the right side of McCarthy's midfield. With one contender, Steven Reid, looking doubtful because of injury, Mark Kennedy made a timely bid to stake his own claim on Saturday when he scored the second goal of Wolves' 3-0 away defeat of Rotherham.

With Kennedy, though, very little is straightforward, and after putting the ball in the net the midfielder decided to celebrate his strike directly in front of the home side's bench, a decision that prompted Rotherham sub Guy Branston to drench the player with orange juice.

That, in turn, sparked a mass altercation after which Rotherham manager asked "why did Kennedy choose to celebrate like that?" He wasn't looking for an answer, of course. He had one. "Cos he's a nutcase, that's why."

Well, it's a rather basic reaction to Kennedy's often surprising behaviour, but you can't help the feeling that if the question was posed for that quiz show Family Fortunes, the answer would be up there in the top five selections. For his performance, Mark's our player of the Week.