Attack will be Kerr priority

IRELAND team manager Brian Kerr yesterday stressed how important the upcoming two European Championship ties in Dublin against Albania and Georgia were but indirectly suggested that the best they could hope for was to finish second in the group to Switzerland.

Ireland need to build on the recovery they launched in their last two matches away to Albania and Georgia if they are to battle their way back into contention, but the ground lost to Russia and Switzerland in their first two qualifying matches may still be critical.

The most relevant fact is that only the winners of the group will be sure of a place in the European finals in Portugal next year. Runners-up will have to go into a play-off, and while that is a route well familiar to Ireland, they will need to be foot-perfect from here if they are to secure right of passage this time.

Said Kerr: “Switzerland are still very much in pole position in our group. They have three of their last four games at home. Their next two matches are at home and if they win those, then they will be in a great position to win the group.”

Kerr was speaking at the Irish training camp in Carrickmacross where the squad had two training sessions at Carrickmacross Rovers’ ground before up to 300 fans.

The policy of taking the players away from their usual base in Dublin stirred the interest of the locals. They helped create an atmosphere at training which has never been evident in Dublin.

It is a policy which hopefully will be extended to include other parts of the country. Jack Charlton took his squad occasionally to Carrickmacross where they were based in the nearby Nuremore Hotel.

There was, however, one untoward note struck when goalkeeper Shay Given damaged a knee while diving to make a save. He will have a precautionary scan on the injury today at the Mater Hospital in Dublin. Ireland’s medical team are satisfied, happily, that the examination will not reveal anything major and that he will be fit to play on Saturday against Albania.

But hopes are fading fast for Glen Crowe who will accompany Given to the Mater. Crowe damaged the tendons in his knee while playing for Bohemians against St Patrick’s Athletic at Richmond Park and again yesterday the injury prevented him from training. Despite the constant attention of the medical team, it is feared he will not make it.

This could prove something of a handicap for Ireland because they are not overburdened with goalscorers in their squad and goals will be necessary if they are to recover lost ground. Crowe would not have started even had he been fit, but at least he would have offered Kerr an option if Ireland were in need of a goal.

The topsy-turvy results in this group have taken some people by surprise, but that was only because Albania and Georgia were not familiar to followers in this part of the world. The difficulty Ireland had in beating Georgia 2-1 in Tbilisi in March and in drawing 0-0 with Albania in Tirana highlighted their strengths.

Initial speculation was that the top two places in the group would rest between Ireland, Switzerland and Russia but it would be foolish not to include Albania in that group as well.

They drew 1-1 with Switzerland in Tirana, lost 1-4 to Russia away from home and they whipped Russia 3-1 in the return. They are currently a point better off than Ireland in third place with five points from four games and with everything to play for. Kerr will have to pick a team with a bias towards attack and it is a pity his options are restricted a little by the absence of Clinton Morrison (Birmingham City) from the squad because of injury.

The probability is that he will play Damien Duff up front with Robbie Keane, but it is possible he will ask Duff to drop off and play in the gap between central midfield and centre-forward as he did in the recent friendly against Norway.

Said Kerr: “what is important is that most players can be flexible in their approach and we can change in the course of the game if we need to, because if Switzerland win their two matches they will be in a fantastic position. There is nothing I can do about that, but we must set out to win our two matches if we are to compete with them.”

Another back-up player, Stephen McPhail of Leeds United, was restricted in his work yesterday when he picked up a “dead leg” in training. But like Given, he will be fully recovered in a couple of days. McPhail is one of those players who has the potential to bring an increased level of creativity to a midfield that has not been occupied by a genuinely imaginative player since Liam Brady.

But indications are that Kerr will stick closely to the team selections he used in his first two competitive matches with Steven Reid (Millwall) the only likely challenger to the regular eleven. Reid was kept out of the two matches away to Albania and Georgia by injury and Lee Carsley (Everton) played on the right of midfield, a position in which he played regularly this season for his club.

Carsley was excellent in both matches for Ireland but the need for a more attacking set-up suggests he could make way for Reid, who is closer to being a more orthodox winger. Kerr will make his mind up after the seniors play the U21 team in a full-blown challenge game tomorrow.