Kevin Kilbane, out of action for the past three weeks because of an ankle injury, has no doubts that he will be fit, ready and available for Saturday's World Cup play-off showdown with Iran before a sell out crowd of 33,000 at Lansdowne Road. The Sunderland winger is one of five players causing manager Mick McCarthy concern ahead of the first leg, but he gave the Irish boss a boost by confirming that he will be fit to play if selected.
The 24-year-old admitted: "Last week I was a little worried about the ankle injury. But yesterday I played in most of the training session with the rest of the Irish squad and had no reactions. That has to be good news. The team spirit in the Irish squad is huge at the minute and we all know how close we are to making qualification certain, so I desparately want to be involved."
Kilbane, ever-present throughout Ireland's unbeaten qualifying campaign, is looking forward to the clash with Iran, but insists the Irish will not be taking their Asian opponents lightly. He added: "When you are a little schoolboy, you dream about playing in matches like this. You are only a kid growing up and you wonder whether you can ever reach this level. Now it has all happened to me. But like our games against Portugal and Holland in the European section of the qualifying competition, you have to stand up and be counted. I have watched a few of their Asian Group games on television and I know that we must approach the 90 minutes in the same way as we did against Portugal and Holland. There will be no room for complacency against Iran."
Filed by Shane Murray
