McCarthy hands captaincy to Kelly

Leeds defender Gary Kelly will become the Republic of Ireland's youngest captain since David O'Leary when he leads his side against Mexico at Lansdowne Road tomorrow.

Kelly has previously led the team at under-21 level but Mick McCarthy has now followed the example of Leeds manager George Graham, who gave Kelly the armband for the final 12 Premiership games of the season.

"It's a young Irish squad for this game and Gary, with 27 caps, is the senior player," said McCarthy. "Since he came back into the side, Gary has been excellent on the right-hand side of midfield."

Kelly said: "It's a big honour for me but I realise that a lot of our senior players will be back at the start of next season.

"Nonetheless, it would be nice to skipper Ireland to victory. My record is good - in my 12 games leading Leeds, we only lost twice."

Derby County's combative midfielder, Lee Carsley, will be available for selection having eliminated doubts about his rate of recovery from a damaged hamstring when he joined a training session at the squad's headquarters at Carrickmacross yesterday.

Now the likelihood is that he will be chosen for the holding role in midfield when McCarthy commits himself today to a formation which will have the task of avenging that controversial 2-1 defeat by the Mexicans in the World Cup finals in Orlando four years ago.

"It was never a big problem to start with, but after watching Lee train this morning I've absolutely no doubts about his ability to get through the full 90 minutes if required on Saturday," McCarthy said yesterday.

With neither Shay Given nor Damien Duff betraying any reaction to recent groin problems, it was a more upbeat Irish manager who supervised training in front of a gallery of local enthusiasts.

He's still not prepared to speculate on the likely make-up of his team, but all the signs are that it will include Feyenoord forward David Connolly, who, like Ian Harte, has joined the squad after sharing in the under-21's 3-0 win over Scotland at Ballybofey on Monday evening.

Gareth Farrelly, who impressed with that flamboyant goal, his second in successive weeks, in Paul McGrath's testimonial game, will also be competing for a place in midfield where the return of Mark Kennedy provides the manager with additional options.

Kennedy is still playing with protective bandaging on his hand, but it will not diminish his chances of gaining selection for the first time since the return leg of the World Cup play off against Belgium at Brussels last November.

The Mexicans, who arrive in Dublin today, are expected to include several survivors from the US Cup side which drew 3-3 with Ireland in the Giants Stadium in New Jersey two years ago.