Mick McCarthy could have used the game for a bout of wholesale experimentation but looking at his selection for this evening's game against the Czechs the aim seems to be fine tuning instead.

It's a strong side with only one relatively unfamiliar name. It's the sort of team that was doing well for McCarthy in the home matches during the last qualification campaign. And, by the looks of things, it's also the sort that he feels offers him the best hope of winning when Portugal and the Netherlands come to Dublin for the World Cup qualifying matches.

The fact that Paul Butler is the only real outsider to get a chance to prove himself would tend to underline just how big an opportunity it is for the big Sunderland defender. Butler may not be the most naturally gifted of footballers but then McCarthy would be the first to admit that he probably wasn't either.

That didn't prevented him from having an outstanding international career because his application was second to none. If Butler has the same sort of application he could well play himself into contention for a place alongside Kenny Cunningham during the forthcoming qualification games.

Over the past few years Cunningham has emerged as one of the Republic's most consistent performers but it's clear that McCarthy has never been entirely satisfied by his options for the central defensive position. Gary Breen remains the incumbent with Phil Babb some way behind in the queue but it's fairly obvious that the manager is open to suggestions and now it's up to Butler to show McCarthy what he's got.

At club level he looks a solid enough performer although he does lack pace, particularly the sort that gets a defender out of trouble when he makes a mistake. Still, he's big and strong and might just attack the ball in a way that our defence rarely does.

There are probably a couple of other areas where McCarthy might have had a look at newish faces but it's an indication of how heavily the question of Cunningham's partner plays on his mind that he has gone for that one variation from what is basically his tried and tested best team.

If there were too many new things going on out there it would be more difficult to judge how Butler was doing. The hope will be that, though there is nothing at stake in the game, the Czechs will present the sort of challenge that we might expect from our two strongest rivals in the World Cup qualifiers. There will be other opportunities to give him a run out but if he can fit in with these players against a team that won all 10 of its matches on the way to the European finals then he'll have advanced his cause considerably.

The decision to play with the two wide men again is another indication that McCarthy sees this game as a dress rehearsal for the bigger tests to come. In the last campaign we finally started to look like a side with different ways of beating visiting teams and the presence of Kevin Kilbane and Mark Kennedy would suggest that this is the way that the Ireland manager intends to approach the must-win home games.

Niall Quinn's form will be of vital importance. At 33 the Dubliner is probably having the best season of his career but the question of whether he can keep it up for another year or two is central to Ireland's fortunes.

McCarthy desperately needs somebody alongside Robbie Keane who can get the best out of the younger striker and Quinn looks his best bet at present. Of the other alternatives only Keith O'Neill would appear to offer much but his inconsistency and repeated difficulties with injury make him a player that few managers would want to be banking on.

It would be a bonus if Ireland won but neither manager will be overly concerned about the result. While McCarthy has more specific things to worry about, Jozef Chovanec will probably be more concerned with the bigger picture.

His side's qualifying group was a weak one but that wasn't their fault, all they could do was go out 10 times and aim to win each time . . . there's not many sides around who would have pulled it off.

After a campaign like that their confidence will be sky high. And when players like Pavel Nedved, Radek Bejbl and Vladimir Smicer play in a team that feels it's on a bit of a roll the main concern for the coach is just to keep the wheels on the bandwagon.

In the circumstances the Czechs should be good to watch, the Irish - at the very least - worth watching.

In an interview with Emmet Malone