IRELAND will be striving to avert an all time low of a sixth consecutive defeat when Croatia provide the opposition in the latest of Mick McCarthy's World Cup build up games at Lansdowne Road tomorrow.

Only twice before, since the first senior international fixture against Italy in 1926, had Ireland plummeted to five defeats in a row - a feat they repeated when Antonio Folha scored Portugal's injury time winner at Lansdowne Road last Saturday.

It is a scenario which was scarcely conceivable when the Portuguese came to Dublin in April of last year and the shock to the system has been considerable.

From a situation in which a second successive defeat was regarded as something of a disaster, the Irish are now locked into a depressing run, and the suspicion is that things may get worse before things get better.

For all the doomsday predictions, however, McCarthy will not allow history to deflect him from his avowed intention of ringing the changes in the cause of finding the right blend for the start of his World Cup campaign in Liechtenstein in August.

"We've just got to hold our nerve and get on with the job we set out to do, of looking at young players, he said. People said we'd get turned over by the Portuguese but look what happened."

"We played some very good football, created several chances and in the end, got beaten by a freak goal when the ball deflected off Niall Quinn's boot.

"That wasn't a bad day's work in my book and it encourages me "that we're on the right track. Hopefully, the contributions of the younger players will be just as food and we'll make better use of our chances against Croatia."

The manager will wait until after this morning's training session at the Cavan Rugby Club ground to name his team, and the possibility is that it will include Gary Breen for his first start at senior level.

Breen, who made a belated entry into the Portuguese game, has long been regarded as a talented international player in the making. He made his debut in the Under 21 team against Denmark in October 1992 and quickly settled to become one of the most consistent performers in the side.

His subsequent move from Peterborough to Birmingham City was designed to accelerate his career and now, after a fine apprenticeship in the under age team, the time may be ripe to test his ability as a long term replacement for Paul McGrath.

Against Portugal, McCarthy went with a back three formation of Ken Cunningham, Alan Kernaghan and Jeff Kenna, but with the daunting prospect of a meeting with Holland in Rotterdam on Tuesday, he will be tempted to rest one of the trio now.

There could be recognition, too, for Breen's former Under 21 team mate, Alan Moore who made his senior debut in the 2-0 defeat by the Czech Republic in Prague in April. On that occasion, he was deployed alongside Niall Quinn in attack, but now the likelihood is that he will be moved to more familiar surroundings in midfield.

Gareth Farrelly, perhaps the most impressive of the newcomers against Portugal, took a knock in that game, but after further treatment yesterday he was said to be available for selection.

Missing from yesterday's training session was Andy Townsend who returned to Birmingham for personal reasons after Wednesday's game, but the expectation is that he will return in time to join Alan McLoughlin in central midfield.

On the evidence of the Portuguese assignment, his services are now more urgently needed than ever. For all the emerging talent of Farrelly and later, Keith O'Neill, it was Townsend's strong running and some fine distribution by McLoughlin which gave character to the midfield performance.

Hopefully, a repeat performance will now be forthcoming from two of the more experienced members of the squad and the supply lines will be kept open to enable the front runners to end a depressing scoring sequence.

No less than Townsend, Tony Cascarino showed a rare appetite for battle at the end of a long, difficult season and was responsible for creating the best of the opportunities against the Portuguese.

That was a reassuring spectacle for McCarthy, but in line with his policy of ringing the changes, he may now start with Niall Quinn and opt to hand the running role once more to David Connolly.

Victory would be a pleasant surprise for the home fans, but anything they get out of the game is likely to be earned the hard way. Croatia, a strong technically proficient side, are nearing the end of their preparations for the European Championship Finals and given their display against England at Wembley recently, are unlikely to concede too much now.