Cunningham: Squad is full of 'confident young men'

Kenny Cunningham has shrugged off suggestions that his leadership skills might be needed as Ireland embark on their post-Roy Keane era.

With Keane in exile and veterans Niall Quinn, Steve Staunton and Alan Kelly all retired, the Irish squad are looking for new figureheads ahead of tonight’s friendly clash with Finland in Helsinki.

As one of half a dozen members of the current party to have amassed 40 caps, Cunningham, with his added experience as former captain of Wimbledon, is ideally placed to assume the mantel of father figure.

However, the 31-year-old, who quit the ailing South London outfit for a return to the Premiership with Birmingham this summer, is adamant that his services in that area will not be required.

"Our squad is full of very confident young men," he said.

"They are not quiet and they do not need to be coaxed out of themselves or have an arm put round their shoulder.

"We have a group of people who have been around for a number of years. I might have 40 caps but lads like Damien Duff and Robbie Keane are not far off and they are much younger than me. My experience is no greater than what they have already."

With Staunton gone, Cunningham now has the chance to re-establish himself in McCarthy’s side after an injury ravaged couple of years.

His frequent absences cost him a starting berth in the World Cup, although he was on the field when the end finally came in the penalty shoot-out defeat by Spain.

Not that Cunningham is bitter. He prefers to see himself as a team player, even if he admitted there were some hard times in the Far East.

"From a very early stage there were a certain amount of players who knew they weren’t going to play a big part in the tournament," he said.

"It was difficult watching those who had played expend so much physical and mental energy and be on such a high, particularly after the Cameroon and Germany games.

"Of course we were all pleased for them but it was a different feeling."

With an agreement in place for the use of up to 10 substitutes this evening, McCarthy is set to give debuts to three men.

Sunderland’s Thomas Butler was called into the senior party on Monday, while Jim Goodwin and Graham Barrett were both withdrawn during the interval of last night’s Under-21 victory in preparation for a seat on the bench today.

Keane and Duff will resume their attacking partnership but must overcome a formidable obstacle in Finland’s Liverpool defender Sami Hyypia.

The home side is full of familiar faces, including goalkeeping duo Jussi Jaaskelainen and Antti Niemi, who ply their trade at Bolton and Hearts respectively.

Jari Litmanen is also given a chance to shine as he faces a miserable season in the reserves at Anfield unless he can come up with a performance inspired enough to attract a move before the August 31 deadline.

McCarthy has nine of his starting line-up from the Spain elimination available, although a number of key figures, such as Andy O’Brien, Steve Finnan and Richard Dunne, have failed to make the trip through injury.

It is that situation which will allow the manager to throw in some new blood and, despite the missing men, McCarthy feels tonight’s encounter will be exactly the kind of warm-up he is looking for ahead of next month’s Euro 2004 qualifier with Russia.

"We have to be careful because after I played in the European Championships in 1988, I went back to Celtic and after a month I was absolutely shattered," said McCarthy.

"Obviously I am not in control of how much rest the players get, how much training they do or how many games they play.

"Just having the guys together before the Russia game is a benefit in itself.

"It will help us in our preparations for that game and although we are thin on the ground in some areas, my starting line-up will be a very strong team."