Carr's stock rises as Harte and Kelly are left out in cold

Gary Kelly and his cousin Ian Harte were both made to feel the pinch yesterday when Mick McCarthy announced a revised squad of 20 for the Republic of Ireland's European Championship Group Eight qualifying games against Yugoslavia, Croatia and Malta.

Kelly, whose place in the team was formerly regarded as automatic, lost out in what can only have been an agonising decision for the manager to Blackburn's Jeff Kenna for one of the right-sided positions in midfield.

Likewise, McCarthy will have pondered long and hard before dismissing Harte's proven record at international level in favour of the emerging talent of Tottenham's Steve Carr.

For Kenna, it's the perfect early season bonus after finishing the old campaign in pain and some disillusionment. Out since mid-February because of an injury sustained in Blackburn's FA Cup defeat by Newcastle, he has since fought his way back to fitness in a long and thorough pre-season programme.

The Ireland manager is acutely conscious of the fact that the player is short of competitive match practice, but prefers to dwell on his positive response on those occasions when he deployed him in the past.

"He's always been a good player for me, always did the job I asked of him, and I've no doubt that if I use him against Yugoslavia his response will again be positive," he said.

Of Kelly, he said: "I was very tempted to take a chance with him. He's done well to get himself fit again after such a terrible time with injuries, but these games unfortunately come just a little too soon for him."

Having gambled on Harte at times when he was surplus to requirements at club level and taken at least some criticism in the process, McCarthy did not find it easy to omit the Leeds youngster, even in competition with such a gifted full back as Carr.

McCarthy was disappointed when Harte's club manager David O'Leary withdrew him from the final three Republic of Ireland games of last season, but he has never disguised his admiration of the player who served him well in three different positions - centre back, left back and the left side of midfield.

To have left out Carr after a couple of excellent performances against Sweden and Macedonia would have been no less controversial. Eventually, it was the need to preserve the balance of the squad which persuaded him in favour of the Tottenham right back. Steve Staunton and, if needed, Denis Irwin provide cover down the left.

As expected, McCarthy gave a ringing vote of confidence to Keith O'Neill by preferring him to David Connolly for the task of providing cover for Robbie Keane in the front running role.

As in the case of Harte, Connolly was one of the first of the younger players to be promoted when McCarthy came to power. But now with his position at club level still unresolved, he suffers in comparison with the renaissance O'Neill is enjoying at Middlesbrough.

With the hardships of his Norwich days now a thing of the past, O'Neill is approaching the kind of form which provoked such excitement on his arrival on the Ireland scene. "He's very strong and very quick," enthuses McCarthy. "And because he's so unorthodox he's difficult to mark."

Predictably, Kevin Kilbane is rewarded for the impact he made on his arrival as a second-half substitute against Macedonia. There is also a place in the squad for Mark Kennedy, another of those who prospered towards the end of last season.

With his squad selected, McCarthy must now await the response of FIFA to his demands to have players released by their clubs a full three days before the first of the three European fixtures, against Yugoslavia at Lansdowne Road on September 1st.

Since this is not an official international date, FIFA acknowledge that it will be impossible to implement the normal rule making it incumbent on clubs to make players available to national team managers a full five days before a competitive international fixture.

They have, however, issued a recommendation that players be permitted to join their national team 72 hours in advance of the match, a timetable which would prevent Manchester United from selecting Roy Keane and Denis Irwin for their rearranged game against Newcastle on August 30th.

In spite of numerous attempts by the FAI to have the matter clarified, FIFA continue to fudge the issue, but McCarthy insists that they will go on pressing to have the release clause implemented.

"The bottom line is that we need all our players in three days before the match, as recommended by the authorities and we are determined to ensure that we succeed," he said.