Injury may force Irwin out of playoff

Denis Irwin is doubtful for the Republic of Ireland's World Cup play-off second leg tie with Belgium on November 15th after being stretchered off during Manchester United's European Champions League win over Feyenoord in Rotterdam last evening.

Initially, it was feared that his left leg had been broken in a wild tackle by Paul Bosvelt, but a club spokesman said later that the damage was not as serious as first suspected. Yet, it will be a huge bonus for Mick McCarthy if he recovers in time for the Brussels assignment.

Irwin was carried off with his legs strapped together after an incident which so infuriated Alex Ferguson that he immediately became embroiled in a war of words with Dutch officials.

Surprisingly, the Hungarian referee, Sandor Puhl, desisted from sending Bosvelt off, opting instead to show him a yellow card. Bosvelt was immediately substituted as Ferguson and his assistant, Brian Kidd, vented their anger at the referee and the Dutch bench.

"I'm happy to have won the game but even happier to be leaving here without serious injury," said Ferguson. "Some of the tackling by Feyenoord was out of order."

Millions of television viewers saw the Irwin incident which was described by the England manager, Glen Hoddle, as a career threatening one. Irwin lay motionless on the pitch until the stretcher bearers arrived to take him off.

Although Irwin looks likely to miss the Belgian game McCarthy will still keep him in his plans, pending the result of a scan on the player's leg today.

Earlier, McCarthy had produced something of a surprise by recalling Kevin Kilbane, just two months after he was withdrawn, in some haste, from the World Cup game in Iceland.

Kilbane gets the vacancy caused by the absence of his injured West Brom clubmate Michael Evans in the only change for the second leg of the play-off tie against Belgium in the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels on November 15th.

The effect will be to reassure the young West Brom winger, if not necessarily the general public, as Ireland seek to improve on last week's disappointing 1-1 draw at Lansdowne Road. Kilbane's arrival in the senior squad after a brief but promising sojourn in the under-21 team was hailed as an enterprising move in Reykjavik.

However, he never quite got to the pace of the game on that occasion and after one promising early run, he retreated into anonymity before being replaced at the interval by Mark Kennedy.

That switch was later interpreted as changing the trend of the game in Ireland's favour. Now, ironically, Kilbane is being asked to make the switch work in reverse after Kennedy's eclipse in the first game against the Belgians.

McCarthy will be hoping that Kilbane can grow from a disappointing start into a top-class international player. "Anybody who has watched the lad can only have been impressed with his skill," he said. "It is now a matter of marrying that with temperament and the other qualities which go to make a good international player."

Having checked and been disappointed with Keith O'Neill's rate of recovery from a foot injury, McCarthy will at least be reassured by the presence of David Kelly who returns after missing the first instalment of the tie with a damaged ankle.

If Kelly has never delivered on his spectacular introduction to Ireland's team 10 years ago, he will at least give McCarthy an additional front line option.

The news from Liverpool, where Phil Babb is still recovering from a rib injury sustained in training, was less favourable. It will, apparently, be some time yet before Babb is cleared to play again and with no move to recall Paul McGrath, it means that Kenny Cunningham and Ian Harte will again be assigned key roles in defence.

There is also recognition for Gary Breen, and given the sparse cover for Cunningham and Harte in the first game, the manager will be looking carefully at the feasibility of taking a leaf from Jack Charlton's book and deploying a sweeper in front of the back four in Brussels.

Unlike the arrangements for the original game, McCarthy has decided not to bring his players to Kilkea Castle in Co Kildare to prepare for the game. Instead they will assemble in Dublin on Monday and will train on familiar territory at Clonshaugh before travelling to Brussels next Thursday morning.

Belgium, too, have decided on a long build-up to the game and manager Georges Leekens intends to start his training programme on Sunday.

There is no firm indication if Lorenzo Staelens, who withdrew because of injury from the first game, will be recalled to a defence in which Eric van Meir performed such an effective job as sweeper.

Enzo Scifo will be brought back to the squad, if not necessarily to the starting line-up, and all the signs are that Luis Oliveira, the Fiorentina striker who was suspended for the first game, will reclaim his place.

Irish Squad

S Given (Newcastle Utd), A Kelly (Sheffield Utd), G Kelly (Leeds Utd), K Cunningham (Wimbledon), I Harte (Leeds Utd), G Breen (Coventry City), J Kenna (Blackburn), D Irwin (Manchester Utd), T Phelan (Everton), C Fleming (Middlesbrough), A Townsend (Middlesbrough), S Staunton (Aston Villa), R Houghton (Reading), J McAteer (Liverpool), A McLoughlin (Portsmouth), L Carsley (Derby Co), T Cascarino (AS Nancy), M Kennedy (Liverpool), D Connolly (Feyenoord), D Kelly (Tranmere Rovers), T Coyne (Motherwell), K Kilbane (West Brom).