EURO 2004 QUALIFIER: With manager Brian Kerr laid low by a cold his players could do with avoiding between now and the weekend, Chris Hughton found himself on familiar territory yesterday when it fell to the Ireland assistant manager to discuss Robbie Keane and, in particular, the failure of the team's leading scorer to train yesterday because of injury.
Keane's fitness, or lack of it, has been a major issue for Hughton over the last few weeks during which time Glenn Hoddle's departure from White Hart Lane has cast doubt on Hughton's own position with Spurs and Ireland's failure to beat Russia has made qualification for Portugal next summer a good deal more tricky to achieve.
For club and country things might have gone differently had the 23-year-old been firing on all cylinders. Yesterday, the striker's absence from training prompted fears he had suffered some sort of recurrence of the ankle problem that had sidelined him in the wake of the Australia match.
Hughton, however, was on hand to provide welcome reassurance that the Dubliner had merely taken a knock to the knee in Tuesday afternoon's session and had been told, against his wishes, to rest up ahead of this morning journey to the Swiss city of Basel, the venue for Saturday's vital Group 10 European Championship qualifying game.
"Robbie's fine, there's nothing to worry about," he said. "He got a very slight kick to the back of the knee and we told him to take it easy. He wanted to train but we felt it would be better if he didn't take any chances.
"Overall he's been in great form. Everybody knows how much Robbie loves his football and having come back from the lay-off now he's looking the better for it. He's been sharp in training and in games at the club so he's in very good shape for Saturday."
The shape of the Swiss attack is, Hughton admits, something that has been giving the Irish management team some food for thought over the last few days with Hakan Yakin's injury problems leaving Kerr and co with a bit of a guessing game on their hands.
"I think what we can certainly expect is the same sort of adventurous approach that they have taken in their previous home games. I can't see them sitting back and looking for a draw. If you go into a game this big with that sort of approach and concede a goal you suddenly have to change everything and that leaves you with a lot of problems but the question of whether Yakin plays is certainly an important factor.
"If he doesn't," observed Hughton, "they have two choices. Either to play one of their other midfielders in a more advanced role or simply to settle for four across the middle. Whatever they do, though, I don't think they have anyone that can play off the front two and cause you problems in quite the way that he does."
The Turkish game had, he said, provided some useful experience of playing against a midfield with the same shape to it as the Swiss one when Yakin is fit. With Swiss manager Kubi Kohn having said he expects the FC Basel attacking midfielder to be fit that could yet prove to be valuable to the Irish who will have to contain the Swiss threat while seeking to score themselves.
In the Turkey game Damien Duff was used on the right side of midfield, a position that has proved something of a problem for the Irish in recent outings. Hughton said the 24-year-old winger's performance last time out had been judged a success when the management team reflected upon it afterwards.
"But it's hardly a surprise," said Hughton. "I think Damien has the ability to play in three, four, five positions. You only have to look at what he's doing at Chelsea in two or three difference positions, he's amazingly adaptable."
Hughton's own role at club level has inevitably been the subject of speculation since Hoddle's departure and the 44-year-old admits that there is always a little concern when such periods of uncertainty crop up.
"What you learn, though, is that you can't drive yourself mad over it. Eventually a new man comes in with new ideas and possibly a new staff but you just have to get on with things as best you can."
Asked whether he would be interested in the post himself he insisted he was happy with his current situation.
"It certainly has been hard to drag myself way this time but then it's always good to come way and be involved in the international set-up.
"I don't know what's going to happen in the future, maybe something will happen that forces my hand and means that I have to change things. If you ask me where I want to be right now, though, I'd have to say that first-team coach at Tottenham and assistant manager with the Republic of Ireland sounds pretty good."
Group 10 - How they stand
P W D L F A Ps
Switzerland 7 3 3 1 13 11 12
Russia 7 3 2 2 16 11 11
IRELAND 7 3 2 2 10 9 11
Albania 8 2 2 4 11 15 8
Georgia 7 2 1 4 7 11 7
SATURDAY
Switzerland v Ireland
Russia v Georgia
PREVIOUS RESULTS
Sept 7th: Russia 4 Republic of Ireland 2; Switzerland 4 Georgia 1. Oct 12th: Albania 1 Switzerland 1. Oct 16th: Russia 4 Albania 1; Republic of Ireland 1 Switzerland 2. Mar 29th: Albania 3 Russia 1; Georgia 1 Republic of Ireland 2. Apr 2nd: Albania 0 Republic of Ireland 0; Georgia 0 Switzerland 0. Apr 30th: Georgia 1 Russia 0. June 7th: Republic of Ireland 2 Albania 1; Switzerland 2 Russia 2. June 11th: Republic of Ireland 2 Georgia 0; Switzerland 3 Albania 2. Sep 6th: Republic of Ireland 1 Russia 1; Georgia 3 Albania 0. Sep 10th: Russia 4 Switzerland 1; Albania 3 Georgia 1.
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