Kenny Cunningham is the latest Republic of Ireland player to avail of the close season to undergo surgery for a groin problem. Cunningham, probably Mick McCarthy's most consistent player in the last year, missed several games towards the end of the season, including the 2-0 defeat by Argentina at Lansdowne Road. It has now been deemed advisable for him to have an operation, which will put him out of contention for next Saturday's meeting with Mexico. As yet, it is still not clear if the Ireland manager will be able to call on Shay Given who is to receive a specialist's report today on a similar injury.
It scarcely restricted him last Saturday during Newcastle's FA Cup final defeat by Arsenal at Wembley but, if surgery is necessary, Newcastle manager Kenny Dalglish will want Given to enter hospital sooner rather than later. That may place a question mark against his prospects of joining his Ireland team-mates as scheduled at their county Monaghan base tomorrow, a possibility which, with Alan Kelly already out, is likely to do little for McCarthy's peace of mind. The other goalkeeper in the squad, Dean Kiely of Bury, is uncapped, and while he pulled off a couple of good saves in the Paul McGrath testimonial game last Sunday, promotion to full international status would represent a significant step up in class for him.
Given's defection would also mean another goalkeeper would be needed as cover, and among those in the running, presumably, is the under-21 player Derek O'Connor of Huddersfield, who is scheduled to play against Northern Ireland at Castlebar on Friday evening. O'Connor won a lot of admiration for his performance in the World Under-20 championships in Malaysia last summer and is obviously an attractive long-term prospect.
Circumstances have forced McCarthy to abandon his original plan to use the Mexican fixture, the last in a series of preparatory games for the European Championship qualifiers which start in August, as an opportunity to parade his strongest formation. McCarthy enlarged his squad yesterday by calling in four of those who shared in last Thursday's European Under-18 championship win over Greece at Tolka Park - Richard Dunne (Everton), Gary Doherty (Luton Town), Barry Quinn (Coventry City) and Gerard Crossley (Celtic). Dunne, alone of the quartet, has previously figured in calculations. Last year he was called up for the World Cup qualifying game against Romania at Bucharest, arguably the toughest of all Ireland's fixtures in the competition.
He was not required to play, but with several Premiership appearances to his credit in the intervening period, he could win his first cap on Saturday. The other good news for McCarthy is that Damien Duff, who was not considered for last Sunday's fixture, will be fit for Saturday. "As of now, Damien is fit - the only danger is that he could aggravate the problem between now and Saturday," McCarthy said. "At this point, however, both he and Robbie Keane are in my team plans."
Meanwhile, Niall Quinn, another absentee from McCarthy's squad, will be fit for Sunderland's promotion play-off against Charlton Athletic at Wembley next Monday. Quinn had suffered a recurrence of a long-standing hamstring strain in last Wednesday's win over Sheffield United.
