Breen in the spotlight

Gary Breen will have an opportunity to press his claims for a recall to the Republic of Ireland team when Coventry City visit Crystal Palace in the FA Premiership today.

Irish manager Mick McCarthy confirmed yesterday that he will be at the game, primarily to assess Breen's current form at the centre of Coventry's defence.

McCarthy will shortly announce his squad for the European Championship warm-up game against the Czech Republic at Oromouc on March 25th and it is almost certain that Breen will be included in the travelling party.

The more pertinent question is whether he will be in the starting line-up, but given the doubts about Ian Harte's match fitness, the likelihood is that Breen will get the nod. The manager is now clearly worried about Harte's inability to command a first-team place at Elland Road.

Breen, by contrast, has made an impressive comeback after running into problems at club and international level last season after Gordon Strachan decided to play him at right back, a role for which he proved ill-fitted.

In time, it affected his confidence and after losing his automatic first-team status at Highfield Road, he was dropped by McCarthy after Ireland's 3-2 defeat by Macedonia in Skopje last April. His only subsequent start in the national team was against Romania at Lansdowne Road.

Breen's prospects are enhanced by doubts about the availability of Phil Babb for Ireland's first senior game of 1998. At his best, Babb would have been a contender for a place at the heart of the defence, but there is still no definitive word from Liverpool about the date of his return from injury.

Neither is it clear if his clubmate Jason McAteer will be back playing before McCarthy names his squad on March 11th.

Both players have a lot of work ahead of them to re-establish their first-team status with Ireland before the first European Championship game against Croatia on September 6th. As of now, it looks like they will not get the chance to make any impact until the home game against Argentina on April 22nd.

These are difficult days for McCarthy's central defenders. Ken Cunningham has missed Wimbledon's last four games, including their FA Cup defeat by Wolves on Wednesday, and there is no guarantee that he will be back for their visit to Barnsley today.

By many estimates, the Dubliner was Ireland's most consistent player last year and to that extent, his absence from the Czech assignment would be serious.