McCarthy hoping for English goodwill

Mick McCarthy yesterday put his trust in the goodwill of English club managers and named a full-strength squad for the Republic of Ireland's meeting with Sweden at Lansdowne Road on April 28th.

With as many as seven members of his probable team doubtful because of club commitments, he acknowledges that some difficult negotiations may lie ahead.

And he underlined the fact by bringing forward the scheduled date for the nomination of his squad by a week, to give clubs due notice of his intentions.

"This game forms an important part of our preparations for the European Championship fixtures coming up and I want to play my strongest team," he said.

"I'd be naive if I didn't anticipate possible problems, but hopefully there will be enough goodwill around to ensure that I'm in a position to put out my best players."

Whether that translates into clearances for the likes of Roy Keane, Dennis Irwin, Mark Kinsella, Jason McAteer and Robbie Keane remains to be seen, but by taking the initiative with his early announcement, McCarthy hopes to woo the support of managers with pressing issues of promotion and relegation on their minds.

With Jeff Kenna (Blackburn) and Rory Delap (Derby County) still recovering from long-term injuries, the squad is, in fact, identical to that chosen for last month's postponed game in Macedonia.

Kenna's on-going absence means that Steve Carr keeps his place and given the genuine doubt about Irwin's availability, it could well open the way to a first senior cap for the Tottenham player at right back now his club's mid-table placing in the Premiership is relatively secure and with their FA Cup hopes extinguished by Newcastle United last Sunday.

The question mark surrounding Robbie Keane's release is much larger. The Wolves striker hasn't been available to the club since March 20th and officials there are unlikely to entertain more overtures from the FAI on his return from under-20 duty in Nigeria.

The effect will be to focus renewed interest on the claims of Keith O'Neill and David Connolly for the task of complementing Niall Quinn, who with Sunderland's promotion to the Premiership now settled is one of the few established first-choice players whose clearance may not be in question.

Significantly, McCarthy has named four players: Dean Kiely, Gareth Whalley, Mark Kennedy and Steve Finnan for stand-by duty and of the quartet, Kennedy's nomination may prove particularly relevant.

As in the case of Robbie Keane, the date of Duff's return from Nigeria is unclear and it could conceivably open the way to a recall, at some stage of the game, for the Wimbledon player who won the last of his caps against Malta 11 months ago.

Included in the under-21 squad for their game against Sweden on April 27th is 19-year-old Bradford player Andy O'Brien. Born in Harrogate of Irish parents, he has represented England at under-18 and under-21 levels, but did not play a competitive game for them, so is eligible to play for Ireland.

Under-21 Squad (v Sweden, Birr, April 27th): D O'Connor (Unattached), B Ryan (UCD), C Hawkins (St Patrick's Athletic), A Maybury (Leeds Utd), D Boxall (Brentford), R Ryan (Millwall), D Worrell (Dundee Utd), T Morgan (St Patrick's Athletic), A O'Brien (Bradford), A Mahon (Tranmere), S McClair (Barnsley), S Grant (Stockport Co), K Kilbane (West Brom), D Clare (Grimsby), N Fenn (Lincoln City), T Molloy (St Patrick's Athletic), A Folan (Brentford), M McKeever (Reading), B Murphy (Cork City), M Rowlands (Brentford).