Chance for all to impress

B International Republic of Ireland v Scotland: Pat Devlin hopes to give every one of his 18-strong squad the opportunity to impress this evening at Dalymount Park (7.30pm) where Scotland provide the opposition for Ireland's first B international of recent times.

Cardiff City's Stephen McPhail, who will captain Ireland, is the only confirmed starter for the home side, although the likes of Joe Gamble, Darren Randolph and Kevin Foley are among those likely to figure prominently.

Senior boss Steve Staunton will presumably be afforded an opportunity to watch new recruits Lee Frecklington and Lewis Emmanuel in the flesh, while Anthony Stokes is set to play for one half despite having featured for Falkirk against Hearts only last night.

"I spoke to Falkirk and I spoke to Anthony about it and he was completely happy to come in and play," said Devlin yesterday. "To get him in for 45 minutes would be great and in the circumstances I wouldn't be looking for anything more than that."

For McPhail the game is a chance to make a case for a recall to the first team squad, having failed to persuade Staunton to involve him on the basis of his consistently strong form at Cardiff City.

"Look, if you ask any player, they'll tell you that they want to be involved with their national team, and I'm no different," says the Dubliner. "This is a chance to impress whoever's watching, not just in the game but in training over the last day or so, and I'm delighted to have been involved again.

"It's not ideal to have so many players who don't know each other come in and then, after only a couple of days, to try to play together, but I'm looking forward to it. I haven't played with anyone but it'll be good and we know the Scots will be strong opponents."

Scotland manager Walter Smith has suffered two withdrawals from his squad. Celtic forward Shaun Maloney has a calf injury while Hibernian skipper Kevin Thomson has the flu. The pick of the visitors look to be attacking players like Kris Boyd of Rangers and Steven Naismith of Kilmarnock. Andy Webster of Wigan, who has 22 full caps, will captain the side.

IRELAND SQUAD: Randolph (Charlton Athletic), Quigley (UCD), Foley (Luton Town), Emanuel (Luton Town), Bruce (Ipswich Town), McCarthy (Leicester City), O'Cearuill (Arsenal), Gibson (Royal Antwerp), McPhail (Cardiff City), Gamble (Cork City), Potter (Wolves), Hunt (Reading), O'Brien (Newcastle United), Frecklington (Lincoln City), Stokes (Falkirk), Keogh (Scunthorpe), Long (Reading), O'Donovan (Cork City).