MICK McCARTHY is keeping his counsel as he prepares to address one of the biggest problems in the selection of the Republic of Ireland team for Sunday's World Cup group eight qualifier with Iceland at Lansdowne Road.

By his own admission, there are enough options available to him to legislate for the absence of the injured Aston Villa player Steve: Staunton from his back three formation.

McCarthy, however, will ponder the selection of Staunton's replacement long and hard as he prepares to take his squad to Carrickmacross this afternoon to finalise their preparations for the game.

The simple solution would appear to be a direct swap involving Liverpool's Phil Babb. Yet, there is a school of thought which suggests that McCarthy will opt instead to bring Roy Keane back into the side in a novel international role at the heart of the defence.

Babb's decline from automatic choice in Jack Charlton's teams has been remarkable. In the early phase of his international career, there were signs that Charlton doubted him. In time, those doubts receded, however, and playing alongside Paul McGrath, Babb established an ideal partnership of a player with pace complementing the specialist ball winner.

Significantly, his fall from favour coincided with McGrath's departure from the team and the transition, almost overnight, of Gary Breen from gifted under 21 player to accomplished senior international.

In Breen, McCarthy has found, another player with exceptional pace and, perhaps, even greater authority in the air. At the Birmingham City player's career promises to be exceptional.

Against that, Babb plays in the English Premiership and if some of his performances with Liverpool have been flawed, he meets one of McCarthy's prime requirements of playing regularly at the highest level.

The case for Keane's inclusion in defence is given additional merit by the fact that it would enable Jason McAteer to continue in central midfield where he produced quite the best performance of his international career in the 3-0 win over FYR Madedonia.

Such is the desire to bring the Manchester United player back into the side at the great opportunity. McCarthy will be tempted to uproot McAteer to accommodate him next Sunday. He can avoid that by playing Keane on the right side of the back three moving Old Trafford team mate Denis Irwin to the opposite flank where he operates with equal facility.

Keane has occasionally played in central defence for Manchester United, while he also played at right back for the club. Either way, Keane seems certain to play land for all the controversy surrounding his frequent withdrawals from the squad, the likelihood is that he will be given a big reception by a public which has never lost faith in him.

There are also difficult decisions to be made up front where the loss of Niall Quinn and Keith O'Neill deprives the manager of the partnership with which he started the competition.

O'Neill, bitterly disappointed that he had to pass up the opportunity of adding to his total of four international goals, reported to Norwich City's ground, Carrow Road, yesterday for treatment of his hamstring injury. He believes that he may be sufficiently recovered to have an outside chance of playing on Sunday, but that is an option which is likely to be rejected by McCarthy as well as the club.

On one point, at least, the manager's job will be less complicated than it was in the approach to the Macedonian game. On that occasion, he was torn between Shay Given's impressive form in earlier international games and the fact that he hadn't played first team football since a loan period with Sunderland some six months earlier.

Eventually, he chose to hand the goalkeeper's sweater to Alan Kelly and his response to a long awaited reprieve was such as to leave McCarthy in no doubt as to who he should play next Sunday.

After watching his team score eight goals without conceding any in the opening two World Cup games, McCarthy ought to have room for manoeuvre in his choice of a side to face the Icelanders. Yet, the sounds emanating from his London base yesterday told a different story.

"Normally a team coming off the back of a 4-0 defeat at home would be low in confidence, but I have a hunch that the hammering they took from Romania last month is going to work the other way for Iceland," McCarthy said.

Their pride is now on the line, and it could translate into a very difficult day's work to break them down on Sunday."

Iceland have a fitness doubt over skipper Gudni Bergsson. The former Tottenham defender, now with Bolton had to miss the first division leaders' 2-0 victory over Huddersfield on Saturday with a thigh injury. He is staying at home for three days' intensive treatment before joining up with the Iceland squad in Dublin on Thursday for a fitness test.