Like the more organised members of the population at large, Mark Kinsella has been planning ahead for next summer. While others worry about how far their chalet is from the beach or whether the apartment block they have booked might be the Club 18-30 headquarters for the south of Spain, the 27-year-old Republic of Ireland and Charlton midfielder's priorities are somewhat different.

June: A couple of weeks in the Low Countries with an option to stay for longer. July/August: Preseason training back at the Valley followed by the start of a nine-month tour of Britain's leading football grounds. "Yeah," says Kinsella" if we win this game and Charlton manage to go straight back up, it would be some summer for me all right."

So far, the Charlton side of things is going rather nicely. While the other two teams relegated last season have struggled to rediscover a winning formula, the Londoners have hit the ground running. "We've won our home games," he says "and Deano (goalkeeper Dean Kiely) has kept us in a few on the road, he's been worth a fair few points to us."

The team as a whole learned their lesson during a tough year in the Premiership. They didn't quite have the edge required to live with the best in England and did not know how to acquire it until it was just that little bit too late. "There were times when we thought we were fine. I mean, when we went to Old Trafford and went one nil up we really thought we were it, but that game ended 4-1 and ended up being a bit of a shock to the system."

Like the rest of his team-mates, though, Dublin-born Kinsella reckons he is a better player for the experience. "You learn a lot from it and so, yeah, I think I've improved over the past 12 months or so but even being back in the first division where we are now is tough. You are playing against high-quality players week in week out and when that's the case it's always nice to get away on international duty."

With this trip there is more than a hint of out of frying pan and into the fire. Kinsella only arrived in Dublin on Saturday afternoon because he was suspended for the first leg against Turkey and admits that watching the Lansdowne Road game from the stand wasn't exactly a bundle of laughs.

Still, he reckons the chances to kill the game off were there long before either team actually scored a goal and he really can't understand how there won't be opportunities, comparing the quality of the opposition to that of some of the teams the Republic have played over the past year or so.

"Individually, the Turks all looked to be good players, but as a team I wouldn't have thought they were nearly as good as either Yugoslavia or Croatia, and when they came to Dublin we beat them both. We should have won on Saturday too but we didn't and now we have a tough job to do out here but it won't be easy for them either, especially if they think it's all over just because they got that away goal."

His return to partner Roy Keane in central midfield is one of the most encouraging aspects of the build up according to manager Mick McCarthy. And Kinsella, though quiet-spoken and modest, admits that he does feel it's a partnership which, during its brief existence, has served the Republic well.

"It is still early days but I played in the eight qualifiers and played alongside Roy in about four of them of which the only one we lost was Yugoslavia away.

"I think we have got on well, the partnership works, but then when Roy is around everybody seems to lift their game, he gives a real boost to every player on the pitch and he is very easy to play alongside in a game."

They certainly seem to complement each other nicely and after the recent run of games against Yugoslavia, Croatia and Malta, McCarthy was left struggling for words when asked the importance of Kinsella's contribution. One thing repeatedly mentioned is his ability to last the 90 minutes while going flat-out throughout - the suspicion is that tonight he could go the extra 30 too if required.

Less certain is how useful he might be if this evening's game goes to penalties. "I don't think I'd be one of the lads taking one, to be honest," he says, smiling, before continuing on to explain that during his professional career he has taken six and missed all but the one he scored at Wembley against Sunderland in 1998's dramatic play-off final. The record looks worse still if you throw in the one he took at practice yesterday.

For all that, though, he remains confident. Next summer holds great things for him on the travel front and he's anxious to confirm the first of his reservations this evening.