Rep of Ireland v Montenegro:THAT OLD gag about being paranoid, not necessarily meaning they're not out to get you, appeared to have a certain currency last night in relation to the Republic of Ireland's hopes of qualifying for next summer's World Cup finals.

On Monday evening, in the wake of the recent decision by Fifa to seed the draw for next month’s play-offs, Stephen Hunt had suggested that referees in the eight games to be played in mid-November might be influenced on some level by the knowledge that those who run the game clearly want the big boys to make it to South Africa.

Elsewhere that night, as it turned out, Danny Jordaan, the chief executive officer of the Local organising committee for the tournament and a leading member of Fifa’s World Cup organising committee was also mulling over the possible outcomes of next month’s four ties for the benefit of the media.

In order to have a successful tournament, he observed, you need “world-class infrastructure and world-class teams”.

So far, so good but when asked directly how important it is for Portugal to qualify, he replied: “Very, very important. We have the big teams . . . England is in, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands but we need also the best players in the world and Portugal with Ronaldo and Messi with Argentina [have] two of the most exciting players. They came one and two in the Fifa world player of the year.”

Hunty, it seems, would be regarded by the blazers as a poor substitute in the event that Monday’s draw in Zurich makes it a straight choice between the two. Bizarrely, though, the next referee to oversee a Portugal game, the one tonight against Malta which they must win if they are to be sure of actually making the play-offs, is Corkman Alan Kelly.

For Giovanni Trapattoni, as it happens, the Hull City winger would appear to do rather nicely. The 28-year-old was shaping up yesterday to be one of up to six players drafted in to start Ireland’s last group game of the current campaign against Montenegro at Croke Park tonight.

There is, admitted the Italian, little enough at stake in the game but aside from the longer-term issue of Ireland’s ranking for future tournaments. But his preference, he said, is to carry some momentum into these play-offs and a point or better tonight would also ensure that the Irish are the only team to go into the hat next Monday undefeated.

Concern that he might end up being without key players has played a big part in Trapattoni’s team selection which, although he hadn’t finalised it yesterday, is set to include a central midfield partnership of Liam Miller and Martin Rowlands with the likes of Noel Hunt and Stephen Kelly also firmly in contention to start.

Despite being one of those to carry a booking into the game, Shay Given will start the game as captain although it seems almost unthinkable that he will still be on the pitch at the final whistle. Kevin Doyle and Robbie Keane are expected to get a half each while Stephen Hunt and Damien Duff are almost certain to occupy the wide positions from the outset.

Kelly is being considered along with Paul McShane for the right-back role although both could end up starting if Trapattoni abandons his original plan of shifting John O’Shea into the centre after a planned chat with the Manchester United player last night.

Keith Andrews already looked to have been revised out of the team by pre-match press conference time yesterday due to his booking. In fact, the manager was sticking to his guns only in relation to his goalkeeper who, he insists, can safely negotiate his way through the night without prompting another yellow card. It is a surprising view, though, that just might have something to do with Given’s characteristic desire to play and, in this instance, his determination to make his landmark 100th appearance.

At left back, Kevin Kilbane will also move to within two of Steve Staunton’s record number of caps while, on the bench, the likes of Leon Best, Eddie Nolan and Keiren Westwood will hope to add to the to the handful they have between them.

Oddly, perhaps, given that they secured their first competitive win on Saturday, the Montenegrins arrive in a bit of disarray.

The team is seriously weakened by the loss of its two star strikers, Roma’s Mirko Vucinic and Fiorentina’s Stevan Jovetic due to injury and suspension respectively.

And the future of their manager, Zoran Filipovic, hangs in the balance.

The trouble has been brewing for some time despite the team managing five draws in eight games and neither Saturday’s defeat of Georgia nor the news that Filipovic’s mother had died on the morning of the game was enough to silence disgruntled fans.

Probable teams

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND:Given (Manchester City); Kelly (Fulham), O'Shea (Manchester United), Dunne (Aston Villa), Kilbane (Hull City); Duff (Fulham), Rowlands (QPR), Miller (Hibernian), S Hunt (Hull City); N Hunt (Reading), Doyle (Wolves).

MONTENEGRO:Poleksic; Basa, Batak, Vukcevic, Boskovic, Novakovic, Damjanovic, Pejovic, Zverotic, Drincic, Delibasic.

Referee:Vladimir Hrinak (Slovakia)