SOCCER ANALYST:TONIGHT'S GAME is a bit of an anti-climax at the end of what has been an eventful and successful group campaign, but no complaints – imagine the nerves if we had to beat Montenegro to be sure of a place in the play-offs? I think we'd have done it, but at least now we don't have to worry.

So, what we have is, basically, a game that means absolutely nothing, other than, maybe, offering two or three players a chance to give Giovanni Trapattoni a selection problem for the play-offs. And the likes of Liam Miller and Martin Rowlands, for example, will feel they have something to prove to everybody, including themselves.

It may well be, then, that the more changes Trapattoni makes the better the performance he’ll get tonight; the injection of three or four fresher players might actually help. They’ll be flat after Saturday; after all those highs and lows, it’ll be like coming down for breakfast after the wedding.

We can’t do anything more than we’ve done in the group and it doesn’t really matter if the unbeaten run ends against Montenegro. Come the play-offs it would be the furthest thing from the players’ minds. It’s a little bit like England last Saturday, when they lost to Ukraine. They had already qualified, and in that situation it’s virtually impossible to get 11 players to play with the same level of intensity. And at this level five per cent less can be everything.

I certainly wouldn’t play Keith Andrews or Aiden McGeady at all; why take the risk when they’re on yellow cards? I wouldn’t worry so much about Shay Given, although I’d make sure to tell him that if a player breaks through and goes around him, let him go – needless to say, conceding a goal to Montenegro would be a whole lot less serious than being without Given for the play-offs.

For Given and Kevin Kilbane – if they play tonight – it will be an amazing achievement to reach 100 caps. Given had big shoes – and gloves – to fill when he took over from Packie Bonner, but he’s made that transition seamless. We’ve never had to worry about him. He has just been brilliant for club and country for God knows how many years. And he’s my kind of goalkeeper because he doesn’t fuss. There are exceptions to that rule, of course, like Peter Schmeichel, who regularly went doolally, but he’s just steady and calm, he’s not a ranter and a raver.

He also makes good decisions, you rarely see him come to try to punch the ball around the penalty spot, which, for defenders, is a joy – they don’t have to worry about what the fella behind them is going to do next. And as someone who played in front of Bruce Grobbelaar I know how that feels.

The achievement is especially impressive from Kilbane. If you had predicted that, when he started out at Preston all those years ago, he’d go on to win 100 caps, well, you’d have got the biggest odds in the world. But what it points to is his sheer professionalism. He’s a really good trainer, he’s great in the dressingroom, he’s a good mixer with other players. He’s a popular, honest, good lad. He’s just a good pro, on and off the pitch.

He is a player who has made the very best of his abilities, which is something people like Glenn Whelan, Keith Andrews and Liam Lawrence are trying to do now. They are all players who were let go by bigger clubs early in their careers and then had to work their way back up. So, they probably have a greater appreciation of the chance they’ve been given now.

They’ve come the long way around, and when people like that get to this level they often have a greater understanding of what it’s taken to get there.

It’s not that long ago Andrews was playing for MK Dons in front of the smallest of crowds. Little wonder he – like Whelan and now Lawrence – works like he does for this team.

The emergence of Lawrence has been one of the bonuses of the campaign, and of Seán St Ledger. I’m probably biased because of the Preston connection, but I think St Ledger improves with every game, I think he’s going to be a very good player.

So, the Montenegro game doesn’t matter a great deal, all thoughts will be on the draw for the play-offs and the two legs next month. Ideally, the team will finish the group on a high, but it’s much more important that injuries – and yellow cards – are avoided. If that means pulling out of tackles, so be it. This is the World Cup we’re talking about.