Ireland will never get a better chance to beat the Dutch as they will this Saturday in the Amsterdam Arena.

While Ireland was being rocked with the news of the expulsion from the Irish squad of Phil Babb and Mark Kennedy for indiscretions the night before, Holland were also facing bad news as it emerged that Jaap Stam and Marc Overmars will miss the Saturday showdown.

This comes as great news for Ireland boss Mick McCarthy - and he needed something to lift him out of the doom of having to send two players home.

The Dutch are now missing four certain starters in Stam, Overmars, Edgar Davids and Zenden. They will also miss the services of Dennis Bergkamp who has retired from international football.

The most likely Dutch defence against Ireland will feature two players who were on the receiving end of Celtic's six-goal salvo at the weekend.

Rangers central-defensive pairing of Konterman and Ricksen will be at an all-time low as far as confidence is concerned, which will be good news for Ireland. Ricksen was so bad against Celtic that he did not even make it to half time before he was replaced.

Dutch manager Louis Van Gaal has called two new players into his squad. They are Jeffrey Talan and Anthony Lurling, names that don't really set the world alight.

Revised Dutch squad: Van der Saar, Westerveld, Reiziger, F. de Boer, Ricksen, Konterman, Bosvelt, Seedorf, Van Bommel, Van Bronckhorst, Cocu, Bruggink, R. de Boer, Kluivert, Vennegoor, Talan, Lurling.