Another two bite the dust

IRISH MANAGER Mick McCarthy departs with his team for Prague from their English base this morning once again contemplating the prospect of having to cobble together a makeshift line up on Wednesday afternoon from what is now a 16 man squad.

Liverpool's Jason McAteer and Motherwell striker Tommy Coyne became the latest players to drop out of the trip to the Czech Republic yesterday, reducing, once more, McCarthy's second international panel to the bare bones.

The loss of McAteer, who finally admitted defeat in his battle to overcome his knee injury, was a particular blow for the Irish boss. Last week McAteer withdrew from the squad but then the injury improved sufficiently for him to travel to the team hotel on Friday.

The Liverpool player travelled home yesterday, while Coyne never arrived, his club informing the FAI that their man would not be joining up with the Irish party after the Coyne failed a fitness test before Saturday's 3-1 defeat by Rangers.

The latest defections leave McCarthy with even fewer options than he enjoyed when he took charge of the team for the first time last month against Russia. But despite the losses, the manager decided against issuing any last minute call ups, deciding instead to make the best of what is an increasingly grim looking lot.

"I've got 16 players and I'm happy with that. I believe in looking at things in a positive way," he said last night. "It's been a bad month for players picking up injuries. I've been talking to a few other managers and they were all saying the same thing but it's to be expected at this time of the season."

The second match of McCarthy's reign looks a daunting prospect, for the Czechs look well equipped to exploit any weaknesses in his side. However, he remains upbeat about his current circumstances remarking that "it just makes the fact that we re playing one of the best teams in the world that bit harder.

"It's not the strongest of squads but there's no point in whingeing about it, we've just got to go out there and do the best job we can with what we've got at our, disposal."

There is a particular problem for the manager up front, where only Niall Quinn remains of the established strikers. In the absence of anyone obvious to draft in, McCarthy says he will improvise with some of the squad's existing players.

"I've got lads here that can handle playing up front". Alan Moore can play up there and said can Mark Kennedy. There are a few lads within the squad that can do a few different jobs for us, so we'll switch around what we've got and see what happens."

The one place where the manager Is well served, however, is in defence where regulars Denis Irwin and Phil Babb are back after missing the game against Russia, although the absence of Steve Staunton and Terry Phelan leaves the panel at well below full strength even in this area.

Given that changes are inevitable, though, Moore may be only one of several players to benefit from McCarthy's difficulties. With Ken Cunningham and Curtis Fleming both potentially in line to figure as the new boss tries to juggle his resources, the possibility of a reversion to a flat back four would certainly be a boost to their chances of earning a place in the starting line up.

"Everybody will be involved in some way. I might have to throw a few of the less experienced lads in, but out of those players that we do use we'll be hoping to discover a few gems" he said.

One piece of good news, however, was the arrival of Shay Given at the Irish camp ahead of schedule. The young goalkeeper was due to play for Sunderland against Stoke yesterday but, despite recovering from injury, he was replaced by Alec Chamberlain and was allowed to join the Irish squad.

"He's with us now and he's fine," said McCarthy drawing some comfort from his one piece of good fortune in an otherwise gloomy few days, while doubtless wondering what lies in store for him when his squad train together for the first time in Prague.

Maybe it's occurred to him to pack his own boots . . . just in case.