Kerr eager to give club fringe players a run out
In the absence of Robbie Keane, Clinton Morrison could be joined by Stephen Elliott up front while, at the back, Richard Dunne will line up beside Kenny Cunningham. With the familiar faces of Andy Reid and Damien Duff expected to the provide width on the flanks, Kerr will opt to experiment elsewhere from the start and off the bench as he seeks to provide football for some of those Irish players who are currently seeing little action at their clubs.
Despite expressing confidence on Monday that he would be fit for the fray, Wigan's Kavanagh was yesterday forced to return to his club for treatment on his injured foot.
Said Kerr: "It's not a serious injury but we didn't want to aggravate it. Graham could have played but the medical opinion was that because the injury is right on the sole of his foot, he could have damaged the ligament again."
With next month's French World Cup qualifier uppermost in everyone's mind, Kerr reiterated yesterday that he already has a "clear idea" of the team he plans to field on September 7.
"But," he added, "that's provided everyone is right, that we don't have injuries and that their form is right. We're in a situation now where Graham, Roy and Robbie are not here and the three of them would certainly be in contention against France. We have at least eight defenders and there's plenty of competition for places there as well. The match against Italy is important but the next couple of weeks are important for the players at club level as well."
Kerr said that he hadn't had any requests from clubs to rest players for tonight's game; on the contrary, he reported that a number of clubs were anxious that, if their players were going to travel to Dublin, they would see some action.
That suits Kerr, and he can be expected to maximise his substitution options over the course of the 90 minutes. The indications yesterday were that he might also start with Ian Harte and Steve Finnan in the full-back positions.
Asked if he was concerned about the number of Irish players who are not first choice at their clubs, Kerr replied: "I am concerned but there's not much that I can do except give them some football in our match and then wait and see what happens over the next two weeks. We're not in control of that. Clinton is a case in point. He only got a few minutes for Birmingham last week and doesn't know when he will play again for them, but he will start against Italy. That's all I can do - give them plenty of football here, encourage them and hope they get more football when they go back. But I have no influence on the clubs and nor would I try to have."
Kerr said he had yet to decide if Stephen Elliott would start tonight's game, but he was happy to assess the longer-term prospects of the youngster.
"He is 21 now and I think it's an important season for him," said Kerr. "He had a sudden surge last year where, having been over-age for the youth team he never got a game at Manchester City. But then he goes to Sunderland and scores 14 or 15 goals and becomes a regular in the squad. That was a really good progression for Stephen. But it's a bigger test in the Premiership and, with Sunderland having signed more strikers, it's going to be a bigger challenge for him. But I don't think it's going to be a crucial season for him in terms of his future. I think it's going to be a case of steady progress. He's always had a knack of getting goals and I think he will continue to do that. I'd like him to have a regular place with Sunderland but he's got to seize his chance when he does get into the team. And he has a great chance because he's such a hard worker and not just a sniffer of goals."
Kerr sees Italy as the best kind of preparation for the French game. And he revealed that it was his face to face request to Marcello Lippi, whom he met at a conference, which sowed the seed for tonight's game.
"They're different to France and a friendly is not the same as a competitive game but, if you can try to get opposition similar to France then I think Italy is the ideal one, in terms of technical ability, tradition and the patient way they keep possession. It's important to keep your concentration levels very high so that we don't suffer the kind of goal we conceded late on in Israel. It's the right type of match for us."
: Given, Finnan, Dunne, Cunningham, Harte, Andy Reid, Holland, Kilbane, Duff, Morrison, Elliott.
: Paulo Costa (Portugal).
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