Holland set to return

World Cup qualifying Ireland squad: Republic of Ireland manager Brian Kerr indicated yesterday he expects Matt Holland to be fit enough to feature in Ireland's two forthcoming World Cup games when he named the Charlton midfielder in the squad of 24 for the qualifiers against France in Paris on October 9th, and the Faroe Islands four days later.

Holland had been named in the panel for the Republic's opening to games earlier this month but withdrew after picking up an ankle injury while playing for his club. Having played two reserve games during the last seven days it is expected the player will feature in this weekend's London derby against Arsenal.

John O'Shea and Liam Miller also return after injury ruled them out of the Cyprus and Switzerland games giving Kerr considerably broader options.

The French have suffered yet another blow with the news Marseille midfielder Benoit Pedretti will be out for a month with a knee injury.

If reckoned to be match fit by next Saturday, Holland would be in contention to play alongside Roy Keane in the centre of Ireland's midfield while Miller could potentially feature at some point either there or out on the right-hand side where he did so well in last season's friendly against Romania.

Omitted from the squad are Ian Harte, David Connolly and Rory Delap. Kerr will discuss his selection at a press conference this morning, when it may transpire there are injury-related reasons for the exclusions.

It does, however, seem increasingly clear Harte, now playing in Spain, is, at best, fourth in line for the left-back position. John O'Shea, Steve Finnan and Alan Maybury are all ahead of him while Connolly, who scored at the weekend to put Leicester 2-0 up against QPR only to be sent off and see them lose 3-2, may finally have been dropped by Kerr.

In the latter's absence the Irish will, assuming everybody stays fit, go into the two games with just three recognised strikers as well as another two, Damien Duff and Gary Doherty, who have played up front at this level.

Kerr has more bodies to play with in defence but the coach has still decided to add Richard Dunne to his squad a month after the big Manchester City centre back publicly questioned the decision to leave him out for the opening two games. Dunne, another of those to play at youth level for Kerr, performed strongly for Mick McCarthy at the start of the 2002 qualifying campaign but has slipped down the pecking order since then.

He has made five appearances - three of them from the bench - under Kerr but has not featured in a competitive game since the 1-0 win over the Netherlands at Lansdowne Road in September 2001. He has performed solidly for Manchester City since the start of the season but is still unlikely to provide anything more than back-up for the two Ireland matches.

Otherwise, the squad is much as expected with Kerr including Roy Keane despite the criminal charges still hanging over the Manchester United midfielder and retaining Alan Quinn and Graham Barrett despite the return of Holland.

There is no return for Lee Carsley, however, despite the Everton midfielder suggesting in a media interview last week that, after a period in which he preferred to concentrate on re-establishing himself at club level, he would gladly answer a call-up.

IRELAND SQUAD: Shay Given (Newcastle United), Paddy Kenny (Sheffield United), Nick Colgan (Barnsley), Stephen Carr (Newcastle United), Andy O'Brien (Newcastle United), Kenny Cunningham (Birmingham), Alan Maybury (Hearts), Richard Dunne (Manchester City), Gary Breen (Sunderland), John O'Shea (Manchester United), Steve Finnan (Liverpool), Andy Reid (Nottingham Forest), Matt Holland (Charlton Athletic), Roy Keane (Manchester United), Kevin Kilbane (Everton), Liam Miller (Manchester United), Graham Kavanagh (Cardiff City), Alan Quinn (Sheffield United), Graham Barrett (Coventry City), Damien Duff (Chelsea), Gary Doherty (Norwich City), Alan Lee (Cardiff City), Clinton Morrison (Birmingham), Robbie Keane (Tottenham Hotspur).