World Cup: Irish touch down in Tehran

The Irish squad touched down in Tehran last night, welcomed by a partisan gathering of thousands of Iranian supporters.

This afternoon, the team will train in a nearby club ground, where physio Mick Byrne will assess the fitness of Niall Quinn and Steve Staunton.

Mick McCarthy announced last night that Charlton's Mark Kinsella will play in midfield as expected, in the absence of Roy Keane.

McCarthy has vowed that Ireland will approach the game as they have done all the other qualifiers and will not sit back on their first-leg lead.