Kerr to reshuffle pack in Faroes

BRIAN KERR faces decisions at the back and front as he prepares his Republic of Ireland side for the Group 4 clash with the Faroe Islands tomorrow evening.

Speaking shortly after the squad's arrival at their hotel on a hilltop overlooking the Faroese capital Torshavn, Kerr indicated that both Roy Keane and Stephen Carr would return to a side which travelled from Dublin without injured striker Robbie Keane and suspended defender Andy O'Brien.

As expected, Steve Finnan is another absentee from the squad as he struggles to recover from the thigh injury which kept him out of the Israel game.

"Robbie is not a quitter, you rarely see him go off in a match with an injury and he's playing in an area of the pitch which is tough going," said Kerr.

"So I knew it was serious enough when he said he needed to go off on Saturday. By Sunday night there was no improvement at all; he could barely raise his arm above hip level."

The manger suggested that the state of the playing surface in Torshavn about which some media observers have already expressed concern could be a factor in terms of who gets the nod up front. "We'll go and have look at the pitch and see what conditions are like and then we'll make decisions," said Kerr.

"We like to play the ball on the deck as much as we can. We maybe went too direct when Gary Doherty went on in the second half on Saturday although he did well. But we'll take everything into consideration before we make a decision for Wednesday."

Doherty, who had recovered sufficiently from a jarred knee to come off the bench on against Israel, was rested for part of yesterday's training session in Malahide before the squad flew to the Faroes, but Kerr insisted that the player would be fit for selection tomorrow.

The manager also has to reshuffle the pack at the back, after an appeal against Andy O'Brien's controversial red card at Lansdowne Road was turned down by FIFA. Kerr said he was not surprised by the decision.

"I understood the rules that if someone gets sent off in a match it doesn't get turned around. Unlike in the Premier League, where video evidence may be used to overturn a red card, that's not the case in international football. The rule is a bit strange but other countries have had to deal with it in the past and I'm sure they found it annoying as well.

"It would seem sensible if FIFA followed the FA's rules but I don't think we need to go on and on about it. We've got to deal with it for this match, but if there was any suggestion that he might receive a ban for more than one match that would be a farcical situation."

Indeed, it has been confirmed that the FAI are to seek a personal hearing from FIFA on the case, at which they plan to submit video evidence in the hope that O'Brien's current one-match suspension will not be extended to the autumn qualifiers. In terms of his options at the back, Kerr seems satisfied that he has enough cover.

"We've brought Paddy McCarthy in, and we might have to do a bit of juggling around. We've lost a lot of defenders but we still have enough to cope. John O'Shea, Gary Doherty, Matt Holland, Roy Keane can all play centre back."

The main task now, according to the manager, is to get over the setback of the draw with Israel and focus on the job in hand here in the North Atlantic.

"There is still disappointment within the team and some might be particularly disappointed with their performances, but they were in good form in training before we left Dublin. The trip up here wasn't too long and went quite smoothly. We've talked about the task this morning and we will again tomorrow morning."

Declaring that he wouldn't settle now at this point for second place in the group, Kerr said: "We're still in there but we need to win this match. The players have to take some responsibility in games but the staff has a responsibility as well to motivate the players and ensure they are in the right mental state for the game.

"I think coming here, and looking at the general conditions, one could be lulled into a sense of relaxation or remoteness from the world, so there's an important job to be done to ensure that the team that team are properly focussed and understand that they challenges they face in this game will be a bit different to the challenges they regularly face in the leagues they play in. There's not too many clear-cut victories up here; the Faroes have learned how to battle and scrap and bring all sorts of teams down to the same level as themselves."