Mick McCarthy’s World Cup qualifying plans were dealt a blow today with the news that Stephen Carr has been ruled out for four months after a knee operation.
The Tottenham right-back will miss the Republic of Ireland's final qualifier against Cyprus in Dublin in two weeks and the likely two-legged play-off against Asian opposition in November for a place in the finals next summer.
Carr’s absence poses an immediate problem for McCarthy as his international deputy, Leeds United's Gary Kelly, is suspended for the Cyprus game after being sent off in the 1-0 win over Holland earlier this month.
And the news is also a setback for Tottenham with manager Glenn Hoddle counting 10 players on the injured list at White Hart Lane ahead of Saturday's trip to Liverpool.
The news about Carr has tarnished the success of a battling 2-1 win at Sunderland on Wednesday night when Hoddle had to abandon his normal 3-5-2 formation and switch to 4-4-2 simply because he had run out of centre-halves.
Hoddle's other Irish international Gary Doherty broke a leg in the Worthington Cup tie against Torquay last Thursday and three days later Yugoslav defender Goran Bunjevcevic was stretchered off in the 3-2 defeat by Chelsea with a fractured cheekbone following a collision with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
Hoddle is still hoping to clinch the controversial Stg£8.2million transfer of Dean Richards and ease the injury crisis which is threatening to undermine Spurs’s season.
Hoddle still believes he can push the deal through before the weekend Premiership deadline of noon on Friday and Spurs are hopeful it will finally be completed in time for the former Wolves and Bradford star to play at Anfield.
Meanwhile Carr is back home from America where his knee operation was conducted by the same surgeon who operated on Brazilian star Ronaldo and Liverpool's Jamie Redknapp.
Tottenham's initial medical advice was that the pain Carr had been feeling in his knee may have been due to stress in a bone and that it might clear up with sustained rest.
But his trip to the United States resulted in surgery and Hoddle said: "Having a rest was his first port of call and we were hoping he would be back in action soon without the real risk of doing further damage.
"But now the surgeon in America has identified the problem and has told us that the operation will put Stephen right. But it takes four months and that is a major blow for us."