Central role to be handed to Kilbane

SOCCER: As Brian Kerr's injury difficulties eased a little yesterday his team for tomorrow's opening World Cup qualifier against Cyprus appeared to take shape on the training ground where Kevin Kilbane and Graham Kavanagh assumed the crucial central midfield roles vacated by Matt Holland and Roy Keane.

Gary Breen, who has a slight hamstring strain in the wake of Sunderland's game on Tuesday against Reading, was the only one of the Irish squad to sit out yesterday's session while Clinton Morrison and John O'Shea received treatment for knee injuries after both took part in what was a fairly extensive workout. Shay Given, who had been suffering with a sore foot on Wednesday trained as normal yesterday and all, said Kerr afterwards, should be fit at kick-off time tomorrow.

The main difficulty for the Ireland manager then is still in midfield where he is now without Liam Miller as well as Holland and Keane. In their absence he appears to have settled on Kilbane and Kavanagh to do battle for Ireland in what he expects to be a densely populated area of the pitch tomorrow afternoon.

The pair have partnered each other there once before, against Brazil back in February, but this will be a far more important test of their ability to dictate the flow of a game in which anything less than a win would be a serious blow to Ireland's prospects of qualifying for Germany 2006.

If Kavanagh does play it will be his first competitive outing at international level, while Andy O'Brien and Andy Reid are likely to make their first competitive starts for the Republic. Kilbane, on the other hand, has been around the block with Ireland since making his debut in Iceland seven years ago but both he and Kerr admit that in the absence of two of the team's former skippers he will have to assume a little more responsibility than has been the case when, on so many occasions in the past, he played out wide on the left.

"I'm 27 now, one of the more experienced players in the side," he said yesterday, "and you have to expect that with that comes a greater share of the responsibility. We're a young side but there are still a few of the lads, Robbie (Keane) and Damien (Duff) who have around 50 caps under their belts.

"What we have to do in this campaign is make that blend of youthfulness and experience count for us because I think we all know that the last time around we let ourselves down, especially in Basel. We have to go out there next week and be positive, maybe put a few tackles in this time."

Kerr insists he has no doubts about Kilbane's ability to make a major impact in these games, citing the evidence of the Everton midfielder's performances since the latter part of last year, just about the time he moved to Goodison Park.

"He's always posed a big threat in the wide position, we saw that in Mick McCarthy's time, when he was almost an ever present in the team. Playing him inside was just something of a necessity to start with but he's done very well there. I'm not saying that he's played his last game out there but since they first moved him inside at Everton we're seen another side to him.

"I think the move to Everton has been a very good one for him," said Kerr. "I saw his first game there and the supporters took to him straight away but then he has the attributes of a natural crowd-pleaser. He's a high energy player, he's strong physically, a good header of the ball, is a box to box player and he's got a good shot."

For all that, on the wing, his game has often looked a little too predictable to trouble the better defenders he has encountered. In the centre, however, where he has already played for Ireland three times this year, the greater range of options he enjoys when in possession of the ball, combined with his remarkable work-rate, have made his contributions significantly more impressive.

Kerr makes no bones about the need to win tomorrow, with the Ireland manager observing that four points from these first two games would be a "a reasonable return" for his team. The Cypriots, who only arrived in Ireland late last night, have a poor record of scoring away from home but they could well prove difficult to break down and so Kerr looks set to play with two wingers, Duff and Reid.

Clinton Morrison, despite his failure to score for the Republic during the last 12 months, is still the most likely partner for Robbie Keane up front.

FAI chief executive Fran Rooney has appealed to supporters attending the game at Lansdowne Road tomorrow to arrive at the ground early in order to help "build the atmosphere" ahead of Ireland's first outing in the World Cup qualifying campaign.

"This game is of crucial importance to the team's prospects of qualifying for the next World Cup," said Rooney yesterday, "and what we're saying to the fans is to get into the ground early and to get behind all of the things we'll be doing to help create the sort of atmosphere that will help Brian Kerr's team to deliver the victory we all want."

As part of their ongoing campaign to liven up the pre-match build up, the FAI has organised a range of music and other entertainment that will kick off inside the stadium at 1 p.m. tomorrow.

The association also intends to give away thousands of wigs, "boomsticks" and baseball caps outside the ground in an attempt to "bring more colour to the proceedings".

"This is about the fans and the aim is to give them as memorable a day as possible. If they come along early and get involved then we believe we'll help them to help the team to victory," said Rooney.