McCaffrey not upset by form

Republic of Ireland Under-19 manager Sean McCaffrey has insisted that his players have nothing to fear from either the English or Swiss in next week's European Championship mini-tournament, despite their disappointing record in recent months.

"On paper people might expect us to finish last," he said, "because England have a lot of so-called big names and this Swiss team were European Champions at under-17 level, while we've won two, drawn four and lost 12 of our last 18 games.

"But I think that gives a very misleading assessment of the situation, because what you've had is us taking half of this squad one place and then the other half somewhere else. The squad had under-achieved because of injuries and the unavailability of players, but for next week we have almost everyone together and I'm convinced that we have the quality to progress from this tournament, we needn't fear anyone."

McCaffrey does have a few injury problems to contend with. Newcastle's Alan O'Brien became the latest player to withdraw through injury on Tuesday, while Rory Patterson of Rochdale has not travelled to Dublin after coming down with pneumonia.

Another concern is the fitness of the highly-rated Manchester City midfielder Willo Flood, who has a problem with a bone in his abdomen, that had initially been diagnosed as a hernia. Despite being cleared to play next week by a specialist, there remains some doubt about how prominent a role he will be able to play in Ireland's three games.

"He's desperate to play, though," said McCaffrey, "which is typical of the spirit that we have in this squad. We have players who opted to play for the Republic rather than the North, players who opted to play for the Republic rather than England, lads who have put off operations to be here and players who have fought to be released by the their clubs. The lads are incredibly motivated."

City's Glenn Whelan says that Monday's opening game against England in Tolka Park has generated particular excitement within the squad, with so many of the Irish having played regularly against their rivals at reserve team level in England.

"They have players of the quality of Kieran Richardson, who has played Champions League, so there's no questioning how strong they are, but playing them at home will be great. We know what we're about and that the poor results have been because we couldn't get together properly for games. Now, we're all really looking forward to it, to showing we're good enough to play in a finals tournament."

After Monday's opening game in Tolka, Ireland play Switzerland in Richmond Park on the Wednesday and then Slovenia on the Friday back in Tolka Park. Tickets are available from the FAI and the grounds.

Sunderland's under-20 international, Keith Graydon, has been told by Mick McCarthy that he is free to leave the club. Roddy Collins has previously expressed an interest in signing the midfielder, who had a spell this season at York City, and it is expected that the Carlisle manager will seek to sign him over the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, former Sligo Rovers striker Eddie Annand is considering the offer of a move to Derry City. The 30-year-old, who is currently on loan to Morton from Ayr, met with Kevin Mahon this week to discuss the possibility of joining the Brandywell outfit, who have been trying to sign a striker since a move for Kevin McHugh fell through at the start of the season.

Mahon could do with having Annand available to him for this evening's visit of Cork City, for the Derry boss will still be without Liam Coyle and Tommy McCallion, and the pair have been joined on the sidelines by Sean Hargan, who has picked up a groin injury, while John Paul McBride has been released.

City are likely to be substantially changed from the team that drew in the League Cup earlier in the week. Neal Horgan and Billy Woods are amongst those who are expected to return to the side which could go top of the Premier Division if they win.

Derry yesterday formally launched the club's school of excellence, which will help to bring through promising local players from the age of eight upwards. Declan Devine will oversee the project, which has received funding towards its cost from the IFA and the Northern Ireland Sports Council.