O'Neill still out as McCarthy plays it safe

Scarcely surprisingly for a man who generally reckoned during his playing days that hoofing the ball into the upper deck of the West Stand rather than attack was the best form of defence, Mick McCarthy played it nice and safe yesterday when he announced his 22 strong squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Portugal and Estonia.

As expected Mark Kennedy and Phil Babb were overlooked while there was also disappointment for Middlesbrough's Keith O'Neill and Stephen McPhail of Leeds United. Each of the 14 players who made an appearance against the Dutch is back as is, after missing the trip to Amsterdam, Lee Carsley.

The Blackburn midfielder's last caps were at the tail end of the campaign to qualify for Euro 2000 but his recent performances at club level have been sufficiently strong to earn him a place in the travelling party to Lisbon next week.

O'Neill, though, is left behind in spite of returning to regular first team action recently at the Riverside stadium. Having once identified O'Neill as one half of his ideal striking partnership, McCarthy's decision to omit him again when he is fit underlines the player's diminished standing in the eyes of his international manager.

With two games to play in the space of four days, the 24-year-old might well have provided useful options up front or down the left flank but there is a suspicion that the Dubliner is still being punished for his part in the chaotic defending that led to Macedonia's very late and costly equaliser in Skopke almost a year ago.

Whether O'Neill might still have made it had Derby County's Rory Delap not been on the verge of a return to action at club level is questionable. McPhail's recent return at Leeds, meanwhile, has been a gradual affair and the 20-year-olds latest appearance for Dave O'Leary's side - a 15 spell at the end of Tuesday evening's Champions League romp doesn't seem to have been enough to catch the McCarthy's eye.

Otherwise it's all very much as you were with the Ireland coach leaving very much open the option of starting in Lisbon on Saturday week with precisely the same 11 that did so well in the Amsterdam Arena

Don Givens has also stuck by the players who travelled to Holland despite the fact that they lost their opening qualifier at Nijmegan. After that game the Irish coach said that he had been happy with the considerable improvement shown by his players although he did identify the lack of a natural goalscorer as a stumbling block. Nevertheless he has passed up the opportunity to bring Shelbourne's in form striker Richie Foran to Portugal and so aside from Celtic's Liam Miller, a late call-up last time around, the 18 man squad is unchanged.

Senior squad: A Kelly (Blackburn), Given (Newcastle Utd), Kiely (Charlton), Carr (Tottenham), G Kelly (Leeds), Harte (Leeds), Staunton (Liverpool), Breen (Coventry), Dunne (Everton), Roy Keane (Man Utd, captain), Kinsella (Charlton), Finnan (Fulham), McAteer (Blackburn), Kilbane (Sunderland), Duff (Blackburn), Carsley (Blackburn), Holland (Ipswich), Quinn (Sunderland), Connolly (Excelsior), Robbie Keane (Inter Milan), Foley (Watford), Delap (Derby).

Under-21 Squad: Murphy (Tranmere), Delaney (Port Vale), Healy (Celtic), Lynch (Leeds), Gavin (Middlesbrough), O'Shea (Man Utd), Clarke (Stoke), Rowlands (Brentford), Partridge (Liverpool), B Quinn (Coventry), O'Connor (Stoke), Miller (Celtic), A Quinn (Sheffield Wed), McGrath (Aston Villa), Barrett (Arsenal), Doherty (Tottenham), Reddy (Sunderland), Hunt (Crystal Palace).