Staunton plays the waiting game

SOCCER/Euro 2008 qualifying, Republic of Ireland v Germany:Wednesday's bright autumn sunshine had departed across the Irish Sea as Steve Staunton's squad went through their paces at Malahide yesterday and, as became clear over the course of the morning, Wolves striker Stephen Elliott had gone with it after injuring himself the previous day.

The loss of the Dubliner isn't the greatest blow that could have befallen the manager - who was joined at the squad's north Dublin base by Bobby Robson last night - but it seemed to have triggered a certain fatalism in the daily "pitchside".

"Do you really want to know?" Staunton replied gloomily when asked for an injury update before confirming that Elliot's problem was with his hamstring, while John O'Shea and Andy Reid remained significant worries for tomorrow night's game.

"We're going to give them as much time as we can," he said, before noting that "Darren Potter's coming on well . . . They all did a little bit more than yesterday but there are only a couple of days to go to Saturday night so we'll just have to wait and see."

Reid's absence would presumably be a big setback to Staunton's plans for midfield with the Charlton player's form of late suggesting he can be a major force this weekend whether deployed in the centre or on the right.

The loss of O'Shea, though, would leave the Ireland manager with a shortlist of rather unattractive options, namely asking Joey O'Brien to play centre half for the first time since he was an under-19 or handing Alex Bruce his competitive debut at this level against a depleted but still rather impressive German side.

Bruce did not,- it's worth noting, set the world on fire in New Jersey on his senior debut against Ecuador but the reports from Ipswich since have been positive and Staunton is not falling down with alternatives just now.

Predictably then, he strove to be upbeat - with a hint of the philosophical - when asked about the player's readiness for the challenge that may lie in store. "Alex has done well for Ipswich this year, he's a good centre half who can use the ball well, if he plays, but who knows, I can't say how he's going to play if he does play . . . I mean, nobody can say that. So, we'll just have to wait and see.

"How ready is any player?" he wondered. This, as it happens, may have been the most profound question asked by anyone involved with the Ireland camp since Roy Keane woke up in Saipan one morning and asked "What am I doing here?"

"You've got to be thrown in at some point," he continued, "and we've been doing that for the last 12 or 18 months with all of the players. I mean, who is ready and who is not? We knew this process was going to happen; we needed young players to be brought through. That's what happened with Paul McShane against the Czech Republic."

Oh, how Staunton must wish that every stop-gap selection paid off the way McShane's has over these past 12 months.

One that did not work out to the same extent was that of Shane Long in San Marino, where the young striker looked a little lost in the chaos of the visiting side's increasingly desperate attempts to break their opponents down.

The 20-year-old has more than enough to underline his potential since, with a goal against Bolivia and two against Denmark strongly suggesting he has what it takes to make a major impact at this level even if, he admits, he might need to better establish himself at club level first.

"Yeah," he said, "I think if you perform at your club your country follows. Kevin (Doyle) is doing that and Robbie (Keane) is doing that at Tottenham, so I just want to get on the pitch a bit more and make more of an impact at Reading, then I'd get more of a chance with Ireland. It all starts at your club."

"Well," he observed with not the slightest hint of arrogance after being asked to sum up his Ireland career to date, "I couldn't have asked for it to go any better, really. A few more goals would have been nice, but that's just being greedy, I think. I've played six games and scored three goals so I'm happy enough with that. Hopefully, I can make it four in seven on Saturday, we'll see what happens. I'm enjoying every minute I get on the pitch, so hopefully I can make an impact."

Like everyone connected with the squad, Long is aware of the criticism that has been levelled at the team in the wake of some of this campaign's performances but the young striker insists he prefers to get on with his game in the hope he and his team-mates can silence their critics over time. "You can only put things right on the pitch," he said, "and there are a lot of players in the squad who want to do that on Saturday, put things right and show that we should be in the European Championships.

"You're always going to get that (harsh criticism), it's just high expectations, the players included and everyone in Ireland just wants to see Ireland do well - when it doesn't happen someone has to get the blame, I think. We've been on the receiving end of it, but that happens - you have to take it, hold your hands up, and say we should have done better."