Roy at the ready

ROY KEANE will start in Ireland's crucial World Cup qualifier against Switzerland on Wednesday provided there is no negative reaction to his two days of training with the squad.

But his Manchester United colleague John O'Shea will miss the trip to Basel because of a knee injury.

Manager Brian Kerr will monitor the fitness of Keane, Stephen Carr, Graham Kavanagh and Damien Duff before finalising his team for a match Ireland must not lose if they are to qualify for Germany.

He sent O'Shea for a scan after he had complained of soreness in the course of Saturday's 3-0 victory over Cyprus at Lansdowne Road. The scan revealed a slight tear and meant he returned to Manchester while Keane was headed in the opposite direction. The weekend results in the group were a huge encouragement to Ireland, with France stumbling to a draw against Israel after the many changes to their European Championship squad.

Switzerland showed no ill-effects after their disappointing run in the European finals in Portugal but their six goals win over the Faroe Islands must be viewed in context. Their opponents would be on a par with the weak Cypriot team Ireland defeated.

Kerr will be hoping, however, that there will be no further withdrawals after O'Shea joined Matt Holland and Liam Miller on the missing list. Full-back Carr was suffering the effects of a stomach upset against Cyprus but will have recovered fully by Wednesday.

Kavanagh is expected to shake off the ankle knock that restricted him in the second-half against Cyprus. Duff will be excused training while receiving treatment for knocks to his shin and calf, but he also should be fit.

Kerr last night welcomed the arrival of Roy Keane and confirmed that he will take part in a training session in Malahide this morning. "I don't believe United would have agreed to release him unless he was fit and ready to play."

Ireland will head for Basle this afternoon in good spirits after a winning start. "It's nice to get the win, particularly when there was an expectancy" said Kerr. "It was very warm for the players and it was understandable that the tempo dropped a little late on because of that."

"I felt we would play well, I felt during the week that everybody was in good form and there was a good approach and they understood what was required of them in the first game."

Kerr dismissed the suggestion that there was an element of relief that the team produced a positive result in his first competitive game and he revealed that Roy Keane's introduction was not unexpected.

"When Roy pulled out of the squad I spoke with Alex Ferguson about the possibility of him coming in for the game against Switzerland. Thankfully he has had a couple of good training sessions at Old Trafford and we are delighted to have him."

Keane, it will be recalled, did something similar when Ireland played against Iran in Dublin in November 2001 in the first leg of a play-off for the 2002 World Cup finals in the Far East. He has not played a competitive match for Ireland since.

Keane had not played for United in the week before the game because of injury but helped Ireland to a 2-0 lead and then dropped out of the second leg to receive further treatment in Manchester.

Kerr must now decide whether Graham Kavanagh or Kevin Kilbane, who did so well against Cyprus, will make way for Keane - Graham Kavanagh or Kevin Kilbane.

Kavanagh would seem to be at risk for it was he who filled Keane's role but Kerr could conceivably retain both with Kilbane moving wide left to release Damien Duff to play up front.

There is every reason to believe, however, that Kerr likes the idea of leaving Duff and Andy Reid free to mix and match their work on the flanks.

He said: "We would try not to be too rigid in the shape (of the team) when you have players with the individual skill and technique (of Duff and Reid). It would be wrong to restrict them to a line-hugging position, I don't think that suits them.

"People can play them out of a game when they are out there and I think both Damien and Andy have the potential to score goals when they play further in the pitch.

"I know there's not general acceptance of that theory but when you look at Damien and how many goals he's scored when he's played inside, and when you allow Andy to play a bit off the wing, coming inside when the opportunity is there, you see what he does; he got a goal against Cyprus like that.

"We try to have a good shape but also a bit of flexibility about it and to allow players follow their instinct and good feeling at the time when they are on the ball."

Kerr stressed, however, just how difficult the game in Basle will be, even allowing for many changes in the Swiss squad since the European Championships. He said:

"Remember, we got no points from either game with them last time round so anything from Wednesday would be an improvement on that.

"I said before Cyprus that four points would be satisfactory from these two matches, but we won't be going there saying that, our approach will be to try and win the game. That's always the way I go about it, I've never liked the idea of playing for a draw, I don't believe in it."

While Roy was away

IF Roy Keane plays against Switzerland on Wednesday, it will be his first appearance for the Republic of Ireland in a World Cup or European Championship fixture since November 10 2001, when he lined out in the 2-0 win against Iran at Lansdowne Road in the first leg of a play-off for the World Cup Finals in Japan and South Korea.

Since then, Ireland have played 14 competitive matches without Keane and have registered 5 wins, 5 draws and 4 defeats. Mick McCarthy was in charge for seven of the matches (1 win, 3 draws and 3 defeats) and the other seven were contested under Brian Kerr (4 wins, 2 draws, 1 defeat).

Ireland have scored 19 goals in these games and conceded 15.