In the flurry of retirements that accompanied Ireland's exit from the World Cup back in June it briefly seemed Jason McAteer, the only one of the "three amigos" to retain the chirpy demeanour in public down the years since USA '94, was also about to bid us adios. From Emmet Malone in Helsinki

With his frustration over the injury problems that limited his involvement at the summer's World Cup finals now a distant memory, he was back in town on Sunday, looking forward to earning his 50th cap tomorrow night in Helsinki and jokingly listing his new international ambitions: "I want to skipper and play in the centre," he beamed, before adding, "I don't ask for much, do I?"

The Sunderland midfielder didn't have to wait long for the first of his goals to come true, however, for McCarthy yesterday announced that "Trigger" would indeed skipper the Republic of Ireland this week.

And who knows? With Roy Keane having written himself into international history and Mark Kinsella having missed Charlton's game at the weekend because of a bug, a run in the middle isn't out of the question either.

"Maybe the thought (of retirement) crossed his mind," said McCarthy yesterday, "but I don't think it was ever that serious. He's 31 and maybe he was wondering what lay ahead for him but I'm delighted he's still around, he's a youthful 31."

McCarthy insisted that had McAteer been fitter at the World Cup finals then, given the extent of his contribution during the qualifiers, he certainly would have figured more in Ireland's games there. But the extent of his injury wasn't fully appreciated until he returned to his club where ligament damage was diagnosed and a spell of intensive treatment followed.

If McAteer could have a third wish for this week in Helsinki it probably would have been to have his old mate Phil Babb along for the occasion and that too looked possible for a few hours on Sunday evening when a series of withdrawals sent McCarthy scampering in search of cover.

Babb's name topped his list but when the central defender was finally contacted late that night he told the manager he would not be able to travel due to a minor back problem.

"He's very disappointed," said McCarthy yesterday when he appeared to accept that the defender would have been unwise to accept the invitation to join the squad. "He played on Saturday and I don't think he has a major problem but if he has a concern about his back then for him to risk it one game into a new season would be foolish."

Instead McCarthy settled yesterday morning for drafting attacking wide midfielder Thomas Butler in from the under-21s, a move that he admitted had probably come as a surprise for a player who has only recently started to really establish himself at Sunderland.

Performing well in the handful of club appearances he made at the end of last season clearly stood to Butler as McCarthy weighed his options over the past few days and an outstanding display against Blackburn on Saturday probably clinched his promotion once the vacancies in the squad began to arise.

"I spoke to him late last season when he was a little unsure about his future," said McCarthy, "and I told him how highly I rated him, that I felt he had a future with the squad. As it's turned out, maybe it's all happened a little quicker than either of us would have expected."

Butler, in fact, has for some time been recognised as one of the country's brightest prospects, a winger in the Damien Duff mould, though naturally right sided. After shining in most of his eight under-21 games, the way in which he performs tomorrow evening, when he is almost certain to make his debut, will be one of the most interesting aspects of the night.

Meanwhile, despite having been at his most threatening at the World Cup while playing out wide, Duff remains a front man as far as McCarthy is concerned.

The manager confirmed that he sees the 23-year-old Blackburn winger - reported yesterday to be on the verge of signing a new deal with his current club, though one containing a get-out clause that will allow him to talk with any rivals offering Blackburn £12 million for his services - continuing his international striking partnership with Robbie Keane for the foreseeable future.

Rory Delap and Gary Doherty are both likely to feature in the team's forward line for spells tomorrow evening, but there is little hope of either displacing McCarthy's starters from Japan and Korea.

"It (the partnership) suits my team," he said. "Other people can look at it in terms of how many goals they produce if they want to but that's not my main concern. I think it's a very productive partnership, it worked well in the biggest competition in the world, but I would have stuck with it anyway."

Whether the pair feature much tomorrow evening appears to be of little consequence ahead of the game in Moscow where, barring injury, they will once again lead the Irish attack together.

The absence of an established big man like Niall Quinn, whose ability to trouble even the best defences over the summer, must be of some concern to McCarthy, however.

With Richard Sadlier missing this final audition through injury, Doherty and Delap are sure to get the chance in the Olympic Stadium to make the case that they can provide the sort of option Quinn did in Asia.

If either one succeeds convincingly, then what seems like an awkwardly-timed friendly game will have been easily worth all the effort.