Ireland must keep eye on the ball

SKY SPORTS likes to call them “massive, massive games”; Brian Kerr has settled for “absolutely crucial”.

But however you choose to bill this evening's clash between the Republic of Ireland and Israel, there's no doubt it's the biggest home tie of the World Cup campaign so far and one which, for both sides, will go a long way to shaping their destiny in a hugely competitive Group 4.

Surprise high-fliers Israel go into the game without two of the team which earned a 1-1 draw against the Irish in Tel Aviv last March. Influential midfielder Walid Badier is one of those missing but arguably of greater significance on an evening when they will be expecting to defend for long periods, is the absence of Bolton's Tal Ben Haim at the back, where Avi Yehiel could be drafted in by Avraham Grant for his very first cap.

Kerr's team are down three from the away game. Roy Keane and Stephen Carr picked up yellow cards in Tel Aviv which rule them out and, yesterday, as feared, they were joined by Steve Finnan who failed to recover in time from the thigh injury he picked up in the Champions' League final in Istanbul.

In other injury news, Gary Doherty sat out training yesterday after jarring his knee on Wednesday but Kerr reported that the rest was purely precautionary and that, after a run-out this morning, he expects the player will be fit if required at any stage this evening.

Kerr has also confirmed that the right-back role will be a straight choice between Stephen Reid and John O'Shea, with the Blackburn player possibly getting the nod after performing well in Jackie McNamara's testimonial and in training.

Reid's selection would also mean only one change would be made in the back four line-up completed by Kenny Cunningham, Andy O'Brien and John O'Shea. However, the manager could extend the defensive reshuffle by moving O'Shea across to the right and bringing in Ian Harte to resume his old left-back role for the first time since the scoreless friendly in Poland in April of last year.

Yesterday, Kerr conceded the Levante full-back can be a particularly valuable asset at set-pieces.

"It's an area we need to improve in from the last game (in Tel Aviv) when the delivery of the ball wasn't particularly good," Kerr acknowledged. "And Ian can add that. It was one of the reasons I was more than happy to have him in the squad. And as well as his use of the ball, he has a lot of experience, he's been playing in a good league and he's played in the World Cup. He was unfortunate not to be in the last few squads because of the consistency of the other defenders since last June."

Kerr also revealed that the team has been doing a fair bit of work on set-pieces.

"We would expect we would get a reasonable number of set-pieces as we usually do here."

Kerr's other big decision concerns a replacement for the suspended Roy Keane to play alongside Kevin Kilbane in the middle. The manager has admitted it's a close one to call but it might be considered a minor surprise if Graham Kavanagh got the nod ahead of Matt Holland.

Although both carry themselves with authority in midfield, Holland has the most international experience and has also contributed his fair share of successful strikes from distance in the Irish cause.

For Israel, the biggest threat remains playmaker Yossi Benayoun who will be watched Road by Newcastle United manager Graeme Souness. Man-marking is not normally a tactic favoured by Brian Kerr who nevertheless admits that the Racing Santander star is "a talented player who has been a high scorer in a struggling team in the Spanish league."

Since Benayoun poses a particular threat from the left side, Kerr's choice of right-back could take on an added significance.

But then the Irish are not without their own supremely creative talents, and tonight is one of those games where Andy Reid and Damien Duff could have a major impact. Reid's ability to pick out the killer ball can prove invaluable against a tightly-compressed

defence, and both Clinton Morrison and Robbie Keane will be making runs designed to extract the maximum reward from the Spurs' player's telling distribution.

But it's on Damien Duff's shoulders that the main responsibility for unlocking the Israeli defence will rest. And Brian Kerr made no secret of his relief that, after a long season which ended prematurely through injury, the Chelsea winger is fully fit for the fray.

"I must say I was relieved when Damien had the break towards the end of the season although not that it was a hamstring problem," said the Irish boss. "But I felt he was the one who had been used most often in the attacking positions by Chelsea over a long period. When other players were out injured Damien seemed to be playing consistently the rotation system didn't seem to apply to him, really.

"So the break was a good thing. I've seen him looking very fresh over the last few days, very hungry to be involved. After Chelsea had played their friendly in Korea I spoke to him and offered him an extra couple of days off because of the trip. But he said no he was dying to get back into training. And he has looked as fresh and sharp as the rest of them have.

"I don't have any doubt about his ability to do the job within the game. Everybody knows how crucial and important a player he is. There're games when he hasn't played where we've been quite effective but he's a key player for us, no doubt about it."

Kerr suggests that this is not a game in which the home side can afford to throw caution to the wind and go "gung-ho" but his team does need to reproduce the classic Irish home performance of a high-tempo pressure game in order to soften up the opposition for the creative thrust of Reid, Duff and a strike force which can't afford to squander any clear-cut chances that come its way.

Israel have shown resilience, spirit and a good counter-attacking threat in this campaign but tonight is a night when the Irish can pop their bubble and take a big step, at the turn in the road to Germany, towards claiming ownership of Group 4.