Captain Keane to lead from front

Roy Keane now looks certain to play a central role in both of Ireland's games against Iran, Mick McCarthy revealed last night after watching the second Asian play-off in Abu Dhabi.

McCarthy finally made contact with Alex Ferguson before the game and while the United boss said the Corkman would play no part in his club's game against Liverpool this weekend, he made it clear he had no objections to Keane starting at Lansdowne Road on Saturday week.

"He won't be involved but after what was said I'm confident now that Roy will be involved in both of our matches," said McCarthy. "Alex is fully aware of our situation and he is very supportive, as he has always been even going back to my days at Millwall. It's great news, having Roy will be a major boost."

With Keane included, there are no surprises amongst the 24 names named in McCarthy's squad for the two play-offs. The manager has, as he said he would, included the likes of Kevin Kilbane and Mark Kennedy even though neither has yet established that they have recovered from injuries.

Defensively, McCarthy looks to have all of his first-choice players back again, with Kenny Cunningham, Gary Breen and Gary Kelly all included after missing recent games through either injury or suspension.

Elsewhere in the panel, Steven Reid is included and may get his chance if the other wide midfielders don't make sufficient progress over the coming week, while Clinton Morrison is again listed amongst the strikers.

Asked about yesterday's game between Iran and the UAE, McCarthy observed that it had been interesting to see it "turn out to be a mirror image of the first game in Tehran. Iran played six up front over there but sat back tonight and invited the UAE onto them .

"The have some good players, though, particularly Ali Daei, Kharim Bagheri, the goalkeeper (Ebrahim Mirzapour) as well as the 14 (Mujahed Khaziravi). We have to remember that when Iran were reduced to 10 men it affected their shape slightly but, overall, I was impressed by them.

He again insisted he felt better prepared for these games than for either of Ireland's recent play-offs, having been able to see the Iranians in action twice so close to the games.

"The last week has been tremendously beneficial," he observed. "I've done my homework and now I can pass precise details on to my players about their opponents. Given what we've seen we'll be confident going into the games but without being dismissive. I was confident going into the games against Holland and Portugal and I still am now. It's always with a hint of caution, though."

And when he considered what his side will be up against in Tehran, where around 120,000 people are likely to crowd into the Azadi stadium in two weeks time, he admitted the Republic could do with improving on their other home-leg performances.

"It would be nice," he sighed, "to travel away from the first game with a victory and without having conceded a goal which is something we haven't managed on either of our previous two appearances in the play-offs."