SOCCER/Euro 2004 qualifying: As he left Tirana for the journey home yesterday morning Brian Kerr asked for passion from the Irish supporters during the three home games on which the team's Euro 2004 qualification hopes now largely rest.

What he could really do with, however, is another couple of players to bolster a side that continues to show considerable vulnerabilities in key areas of the pitch.

There were positives to be drawn from the games in Tbilisi and Tirana. John O'Shea, though the 21-year-old clearly still has some developing to do in the position, did enough over the past week to move ahead of Ian Harte for the left back position.

And the central defensive partnership of Kenny Cunningham and Gary Breen, that had looked a liability in Moscow, reasserted itself to the point where it is hard to see it being broken up for June's two qualifiers even if Steve Finnan is available again and O'Shea could be switched inside.

In central midfield and attack, however, the past week's games exposed the lack of options with which Kerr has to play.

Up front Clinton Morrison's injury and the fact that Kerr opted against giving David Connolly a run out in either of these away games suggests that the Ireland manager will be selecting two from the same three of Robbie Keane, Damien Duff and Gary Doherty when the Georgians and Albanians visit Dublin for the return games in early June.

Duff's best position is still obviously wide in midfield. He and Doherty may both have scored in Tbilisi and the Blackburn winger's partnership with Keane may only have produced four goals in 14 starts before being broken up by substitutions or tactical switches but after this week's travels the situation looks less of a dilemma than ever.

The problem with sticking with Duff and Keane, however, is that it exacerbates the difficulties in central midfield where the absence of anybody capable of driving the team forward results in the current partnership of Mark Kinsella and Matt Holland finding themselves too far removed from the strikeforce to avoid falling back on long balls forward, much less provide anything much by way of meaningful support.

With Colin Healy, the most likely candidate to offer a more positive alternative at this stage, unlikely to play first team club football before August at the earliest, Kerr's only options are to move one of his many widemen, perhaps Kevin Kilbane, Jason McAteer or the less experienced Steven Reid, into the centre.

None, however, seem likely to end up there between now and June when Ireland will be chasing six points from two games with, the availability of players permitting, a slightly stronger but no more than superficially altered team to the one that started in Tirana.

For the moment, though, Kerr declared himself happy with this week's trip and with the four points secured in cities where, so far, nobody else in the group has won away.

"Given the withdrawals it went as well as could have been expected," he said at Tirana airport yesterday morning. "It could have been a lot worse for us if things had gone differently elsewhere.

"The important thing is that we gained ground and I think the players showed again the character within the side; a team of lesser spirits could have capitulated against the Albanians.

In the absence of new faces being introduced for June's home games Kerr called on the supporters to boost the team in the way that the Albanians did on Wednesday evening.

"It was really something last (Wednesday) night," he remarked. "There was only 15,000 people but they made a lot of noise, they made it difficult and they were like an extra man for their team. Whatever it is they have about them I wouldn't mind if we could buy a few bags of it down at the wholesalers and give it out in Ireland."

That the team have done enough to stay in contention for qualification will at least guarantee packed houses for the next two games. The presumption then is that, despite the problems evident over the past six days, the team and crowd should be able, between them, to do enough to ensure that Ireland's hopes of progressing to next year's finals in Portugal are not finally decided until at least the early autumn.