McCarthy plays down loss of Keane
Monday, 4 June 2001 18:41
Ipswich's Matt Holland will be handed the task of stepping into the boots of Irish midfielder Roy Keane when the Republic of Ireland take on Estonia in their vital World Cup 2002 qualifier on Wednesday. The Irish squad flew into the Estonian captial of Talinn this morning and had a training session earlier this afternoon. Mick McCarthy's main injury doubts surround Stephen Carr, Steve Staunton, Damien Duff and Niall Quinn, who all have niggling injuries but who are unlikely to be missing for Ireland on Wednesday. Staunton's toe injury is the most serious but he is expected to partner Richard Dunne in the centre of defence once again.
McCarthy has indicated that he won't be tinkering too much with the team and Holland's inclusion in place of the suspended captain is expected to be the only change from the line-up that featured in the 1-1 draw against Portugal at Lansdowne Road last Saturday. However, McCarthy wants to play down the fact that star midfielder Roy Keane, who scored against the Portuguese, will be sorely missed.
"I don't want people making mountains out of molehills," said McCarthy. "We've had to cope without Roy before - sometimes successfully sometimes not. And I know people are looking for the story of him not being available again. You can make that story as big as you like."
"But I can't do anything about Roy not coming with us to Estonia. So I have to concentrate on the qualities of the players who are here. We've got Matty Holland to come in and he's never let us down. Mark Kinsella is fit and we've also got Lee Carsley available. I've said it before about Matty and it's the best compliment I can pay him that since he's been in the squad we don't miss Roy as much as we used to," he continued.
"You won't find anybody around the place worrying, complaining or bemoaning the fact that Roy's not with us again. We love him and he gives us such a boost with his stature and ability. He was fantastic against Portugal. He's seldom been better - and that's saying something. But now he's gone and as far as I'm concerned the only players to think about now are the ones capable of helping us in Estonia," McCarthy added.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
