At the heart of things

Having firmly established himself as a key player in Brian Kerr's side, and made his breakthrough into Bryan Robson's first 11 back at Middlesbrough, Jason Gavin could be forgiven for thinking that his days of watching from the sidelines were over for the time being.

At Linkoping's secluded training ground on the outskirts of the university town yesterday, however, the big central defender was forced to sit and look on for most of the morning as his team-mates enjoyed a relaxed session in the mid-morning sunshine.

Gavin is certain to be back in the heart of the Irish defence this afternoon against Georgia, and after Monday's display he will almost certainly be partnered there by Stoke City's Clive Clarke again. But a couple of knocks, the first in a practice match against Drogheda United last week in Dublin, and another, to the same spot in his calf muscle, against the Spaniards have meant his training opportunities have been a little limited.

Like the rest of the Irish players, Gavin came to Sweden conscious of the Spanish list of achievements over the past season and a half, and, like his colleagues, he reckons Monday's 1-0 win represents an enormous step towards a successful defence of the European Youths title he helped to capture 12 months ago in Cyprus.

"We always expected them to be a great passing team and they were, but that makes the win all the more pleasing," he says. "You've always got to be confident in these things, but there's no reason now why we can't go on and do very well in this tournament."

While some Irish teenagers have been put under pressure by their club sides to limit their involvement with the international youth teams, Gavin insists that Robson has been supportive from day one, noting how well the youngster did in last year's gold medal winning side, and, in particular, letting him know that it was his performance against Nigeria in the recent World Championships that helped to pave the way to a first team debut back at the Riverside.

"He said to me before I went that it might be the only World Cup that I ever got to play in so it was important to go out there and enjoy it. Then, when I came back, he said he'd been watching the Nigeria game on Eurosport and that he was very pleased with the way I'd done."

Before the teenager could catch his breath he was in as Gary Pallister's defensive partner for the visit of Manchester United. Dwight Yorke and Teddy Sheringham were a handful after a season of reserve team and international underage football, but the consensus was that Gavin coped well.

Another first team appearance, against local rivals Newcastle, quickly followed, and now the Dubliner is hoping for big things from the coming season, despite the club's proven ability to go out and spend heavily on high-profile players. This week, Gavin signed a three-year contract to stay at the club.

"It's a Premiership club, a good one, so of course it's going to buy players, but you can't worry about that. As long as you keep doing well wherever you are playing the gaffer has to throw you in eventually, and so far it's gone well for me. So, yeah, I'm hoping for big things out of the next year."

A good week in Sweden would not go unnoticed at the Riverside.