McCarthy to name squad today - March 13,
2001
Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy will today name his squad for this month's World Cup Group 2 matches against Cyprus and Andorra - and he will pencil in the name of Niall Quinn who is still holding out hope of being fit.
Quinn will keep a twice-postponed date with his consultant surgeon today in an effort to alleviate the back problem which has plagued his season and is now threatening to curtail his international career at a time when he is agonisingly close to setting new caps and goals records.
"Initially, I thought I'd know the score on Saturday but then it was put back to Monday only to be deferred again until tomorrow (Tuesday)," Quinn said.
"It's an anxious time and it depends on what the scans and X-rays reveal when I see the surgeon again, and what the manager, Peter Reid, has to say about it all.
"The surgeon felt I could do with a couple of weeks rest but he knows I'm not one to sit around when I could be playing, especially with World Cup games coming up for Ireland.
"If I'm fit to play against Chelsea on Saturday, then there won't be a problem for the Irish games, assuming I come through unscathed.
McCarthy will also fill in the names of Dean Kiely and Mark Kinsella (Charlton), Jason McAteer (Blackburn) and Gary Kelly (Leeds), all of whom would have missed the cancelled Denmark game last month because of injury.
But despite fitness doubts over some of his players and the two-games-in-four-days schedule, the Irish boss won't name an enlarged squad. Instead he will list 22 players and put six others on standby.