Mick McCarthy was again at pains to emphasise yesterday that he expects Roy Keane to be available to beef up his team for the three-match tour of the United States in June.

After watching his restructured team lose 1-0 to Greece at Lansdowne road on Wednesday, McCarthy acknowledges the need for more experience in his squad for the May 30th meeting with Scotland in Dublin and the games against Mexico, the US and South Africa which follow.

And he's looking to Keane to set the lead for other senior players by declaring his availability for the tour, a fortnight after finishing his seasonal commitments to Manchester United.

"The position is unchanged from February when in response to a question at a press conference, Roy said he intended to come with us to America," he said.

"He's quite upset by the suggestion that he used the pretext of a hamstring injury to pull out of the game against Greece and give him what some would say is an easy out from the four games at the end of the season.

"Frankly, that upsets me too, for with my hand on my heart I can say that I've never found him to be less than wholly committed to the national team since I took over. The record is there to prove that when he was available he turned up for work and that's good enough for me."

At this point, Steve Staunton, whose wife is expecting a baby in June, is the only confirmed non-traveller for the American assignments, although the manager concedes that with another three weeks to go to the end of the club season in England, that could, change.

Meanwhile, McCarthy was emphasising the positive as he reflected on the performance of his heavily improvised team against Greece, in the second in a series of preparatory games for the start of the World Cup qualifying programme in Holland in September.

For many, it was, essentially, a lost opportunity of cultivating that winning feeling which the manager regards as central to the success of the next phase of his team's development. McCarthy, a man on whom defeat has never rested lightly, was, however, viewing it in different perspective.

"Of course, I would love to have put out my best team but when that wasn't possible, we had to extract as much value as we could from the game. And in spite of the 1-0 defeat, I think there was still a lot in it for us.

"With a strong team I think we could have won by two or three goals. But in the context of preparing a squad for the next World Cup and looking at players who might break into it, would it have compared with what we saw on Wednesday? I think not.

"I put out five uncapped players on Wednesday. And if that experience helps get even one of them through to the first 11, it will have been a very profitable night for Irish football. Hopefully, it will be seen as such, before long."

McCarthy refused to endorse the popular opinion that the Fulham player, Steve Finnan had struggled to come to terms with the pace of the game and that Alan Mahon revealed little of the form which has made him such a valuable asset at Tranmere.

Time may eventually prove him right but there were occasions in the second half when Finnan, by that stage deployed in a central role in midfield, betrayed all the signs of a player who was running low on stamina.

Unfortunately, that tiredness may have been a contributory factor when he spurned Ireland's best chance of an equaliser midway through the second half and by extension, an opportunity of playing himself into the squad going to the United States.

Mahon, likewise, looked less than adequate on occasions but on the credit side, Barry Quinn of Coventry City was occasionally effective before a damaged ankle necessitated his departure after just half an hour.

The good news is that Quinn did not fracture his ankle as was first suspected. The damage has now been diagnosed as torn ligaments and while he will not play again for Coventry this season, he hopes to be back in time to compete for a place in the tour party.

Ironically, Quinn's misfortune gave Rory Delap the chance to reimpose himself on McCarthy's plans and as it transpired, the Derby player did not require a second invitation. Strong and persistent in the tackle, he again looked like the kind of utility player that all managers value.

One imagines that he did enough on Wednesday to make certain of going to America and his sense of achievement was shared by Gary Breen, another player who has come under pressure to justify his international credentials in recent months.

While Richard Dunne, the 20-year-old Everton player did not do at all badly in the other central defensive role, it was Breen who claimed the bulk of the plaudits in this area with a performance which may well have secured his World Cup selection.

Gary Doherty, Tottenham's £1 million signing from Luton, is as yet some way off that kind of professional accolade. And yet, judged on what we saw in the last 20 minutes, he may well emerge as the heir apparent to the target man role which Niall Quinn and Tony Cascarino filled with so much success over the last 10 years.