Isolated Staunton depending on his team

SOCCER/Cyprus v Republic of Ireland: It is just short of a year ago now that an agitated Brian Kerr caught photographers taking pictures of him as he passed under an exit sign in the media hotel here in Limassol.

Though his team subsequently scraped a win that briefly kept alive their hopes of qualifying for the World Cup, the performance did nothing to suggest the snappers were wrong to sense his imminent departure

Yesterday Kerr, now a television pundit, was lying by the pool as the man who replaced him sat in the same function room answering questions. The mood was undoubtedly lighter this time around but there is no avoiding the fact Steve Staunton, like his predecessor, badly needs to take three points home from the GSP Stadium.

More than that, he needs his team to produce a far more authoritative display than they managed last October, when, having started well, they clung desperately to the lead Stephen Elliott's goal had given them after just six minutes.

The circumstances are hardly the most conducive to a positive outcome. A manager hired at least in part because the FAI felt he would be able to fire up players before sending them onto the pitch will be allowed no contact with them after they arrive at the stadium. So many players are injured - including the hero of last year's game, Shay Given, as well as the goalscorer - that of all those available to Staunton, only eight have started a competitive international.

And, despite assertions to the contrary throughout this week, confidence in the squad can hardly be high after a run of three defeats in which the Irish have conceded six goals and scored none.

For all that though, the nucleus of Staunton's best team is available to him, even if, as it did in Stuttgart, the bench ends up looking terribly lightweight. Given is a massive loss, as is the in-form Kevin Doyle, who remains a doubt for Wednesday too. But in Steve Finnan, Richard Dunne, Robbie Keane and Damien Duff Ireland possess players who should be capable of asserting themselves against this sort of opposition.

Staunton has a couple of gaps to fill and it remains uncertain who will start at left back or in central midfield. But there should be enough quality in this Irish side to win.

To do it, however, they will have to produce a much more composed performance than they managed a year ago. And the team's bigger-name players - most notably Duff and Keane - will need to make far more of an impression than they managed last month in Stuttgart.

Against a side like Cyprus the Irish really should be able to score, but there seems less cause for confidence that they can keep a clean sheet. That Andy O'Brien has played so little football of late is a concern, as the Cypriot strikers Ioannis Okkas and Michael Constantinou are both quick and strong.

If the Irish can take control of midfield, though, then the Olympiakos team-mates may find themselves having to roam a long way from goal, from where it will be difficult to generate many opportunities to seriously test Kenny.

Much will depend on the ability of Ireland's central midfield to win possession and use the ball effectively.

On the strength of what has gone on in training this week John O'Shea looks fractionally the more likely to be at left back, with Stephen Ireland perhaps getting to partner Kevin Kilbane ahead of Liam Miller and Jonathan Douglas.

Whatever the pairing, their contribution will be a key factor in how the team fare, for the inability of Kilbane and Graham Kavanagh to either retain possession or, late on, seriously hinder their opponents' attempts to press forward left the Irish under almost relentless pressure last October.

Reminded of the problems encountered in that game, Staunton conceded yesterday that the players had been entirely responsible for their own misfortunes.

"If you don't keep the ball and score when you're on top then you're bound to be in trouble," he said.

"Last year we ended up having to chase around after things whereas if we have the ball they will have to chase it, that's what we have to make them do. To do that we need to pass it and I'm confident we will.

"When it boils down to it, though, the lads have to do it themselves . . . all we can do is prepare them. Once they cross the white line we can't tell them which pass to play or which man to tackle."

If all does go well and the Irish win they will return to Dublin in reasonably buoyant mood for the game against the Czechs on Wednesday. Anything less than a win, though, and Staunton will leave Cyprus little happier than his predecessor did and with even less prospect of making it any time soon to the finals of a major championship.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

CYPRUS: Morphis (Apoel); Ilia (Apoel), Louka (Anorthosis), Theofilou (Apollon), Theodotou (Omonia); Aloneftis (Larissa, Greece), Charalampidis (PAOK, Greece). Garpozis (Xanthi, Greece), Charalambous (PAOK, Greece); Okkas (Olympiakos, Greece), Constantinou (Olympiakos, Greece).

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Kenny (Sheffield United); Finnan (Liverpool), Dunne (Manchester City), O'Brien (Portsmouth), O'Shea (Manchester United); McGeady (Celtic), Ireland (Manchester City), Kilbane (Wigan Athletic), Duff (Newcastle United); Keane (Tottenham Hotspur), Morrison (Crystal Palace).