Brian Kerr will have a full strength squad to choose from when The Republic of Ireland meet Switzerland in their Euro 2004 qualifier on Saturday. Only Tottenham man Gary Doherty failed to report for duty this morning as he was delayed in London after being kept in hospital as a precautionary measure after being laid low with a blood infection.
Kerr, while pointing out that Ireland's hero in the recent matches against Georgia and Albania often suffers from slight infections, said: “He's just out of hospital and will join us on Wednesday. It wasn't anything serious and was just a precaution.”
The manager insisted that things were only getting started with the players, adding: “It's too early to read into the mood of them.”
But Gary Breen insisted that Ireland's experience should give them the advantage in Basle. The Sunderland defender explained: “I'm one of five or six players who have been in this position before with play-offs. We're treating this as a one-off game like the play-offs and it's up to us to make sure the other players are comfortable.
“Any team that comes to Ireland and wins cannot be taken lightly and we'll be giving Switzerland the respect they deserve. But we've been here before where maybe when it hots up they will get nervous.
“Switzerland have led from the front the whole way and now they go into this game needing a result. They've got some very good players but we've got players like Robbie Keane, Damien Duff and David Connolly who can score goals so they will have to worry about us and like I said, it's really hotting up and experience could be vital.”
Breen also admitted that the breaking up of his defensive partnership with captain Kenny Cunningham is a blow - though not fatal with Andy O'Brien and John O'Shea available chomping at the bit.
He continued: “We're going to miss Kenny. Not just on the pitch but off it because he's our captain and a born leader and is respected by all the players, but we've got players of top quality so we have what is needed. I'm just concentrating on doing well in training to make sure I keep my place in the team. There's three players looking for two places and no matter who is picked, we'll be strong.”
Filed by Johnny Proby
