Mick McCarthy spoke yesterday of the benefits which may accrue to Robbie Keane if, as anticipated, the young Dubliner leaves Wolves to join a Premiership club.
McCarthy, who has capped Keane in five of the Republic of Ireland's last six games, said it was not his brief to advise players on how they should handle their club careers.
"That part of the game I leave strictly to the players to sort out for themselves but, yes of course, I'd like all members of my squad to be playing at the very highest level of club football.
"That's not going to be always possible, but in the case of young Robbie it now look only a matter of time before he is on his way to the Premiership.
"If it happens, I believe it will make him an even better striker. As he discovered in Sunday's FA Cup game against Arsenal, strikers don't tend to get as much room when playing against the better organised defences in the top grade.
"But the lad's reading of the game and the positions he takes up are exceptional. I wouldn't have any fears for his survival if he goes up. I believe it's going to make him as even sharper player. And that can only be good for Ireland."
After rejecting a bid from Middlesbrough for Keane last week, John Richards, the former England and Wolves player who is the club's chief executive, acknowledges that it will be difficult to hold on to an unsettled player.
"He believes that he is good enough to be in the Premiership and who can dispute that. Most of the bigger clubs have already been to watch him - I don't imagine there is going to be any shortage of interest in the coming weeks."
McCarthy was at Old Trafford on Sunday to watch Manchester United's dramatic late reprieve against Liverpool and admire yet again the consistent contributions of Roy Keane and Denis Irwin to Alex Ferguson's team.
Unfortunately, Liverpool's Irish contingent was curtailed largely because of Phil Babb's suspension and the groin strain which kept Steve Staunton out of the starting line-up.
As yet, there is no indication of how serious Staunton's problem is but with the preliminary squad for the European Championship warm-up game against Paraguay at Lansdowne Road on February 10th due to be named next Monday, it's obviously a worrying situation for the manager.
Keith O'Neill's fitness is again in doubt, but both Niall Quinn and Tony Cascarino will be available for selection.
Arrangements for the Republic of Ireland's meeting with Northern Ireland in aid of the Omagh Trust Fund were put in place following a meeting of the FAI's officer board and their IFA counterparts in Belfast yesterday.
An initial allocation of 3,400 tickets for distribution through the IFA will be made available to Northern supporters. The associations imposed a blanket ban on all visiting fans for the qualifying games for the 1994 World Cup and the 1996 European Championship, but those restrictions are being relaxed. It was proposed at the meeting that the two UEFA Cup qualifiers from either side of the border should meet in a Super Cup competition in the summer. The proposal will go before the respective leagues for ratification on February 15th.
The FAI also undertook at yesterday's meeting not to approach players born in Northern Ireland for the Republic's team. Shades of Alan Kernaghan.
Sunderland manager Peter Reid believes his side will go into tonight's League Cup semi-final first-leg clash with Leicester in a relaxed mood after the rigours of their promotion campaign.
Reid believes that Niall Quinn and his team-mates can benefit from the break from the promotion race: "If you get to a final and play at Wembley it's massive for the players. But the major priority for us is to get into the Premiership and nothing will get in the way of that."
