MICK McCARTHY is again faced with the prospect of going with an improvised midfield formation against Holland in Rotterdam tomorrow, following a double blow at the weekend.

Ray Houghton, on whom he was depending to redress a perceived weakness in midfield, has not recovered from a back injury sustained in Crystal Palace's First Division championship play off against Leicester City last Monday.

And that was quickly followed by the news that Andy Townsend was unavailable, thus depriving, the manager of the experience of two of the survivors from the last European championship campaign.

Townsend injured his back and was forced to miss yesterday's game against Croatia and subsequently misses the Dutch game.

It is the latest in a long list of setbacks for McCarthy in an attempt to put out a strong team against a Dutch team which, arguably, presents the biggest test of all in Ireland's punitive end of season programme.

To that extent, he is apprehensive as he prepares to take his players to Rotterdam this morning but he put his disappointment aside to praise Townsend's contribution to the squad effort.

"Andy's had a long hard season but his commitment to the team remains exemplary," he said. "He wants to lead by example and nobody is more disappointed than he at having to miss out on the opportunity of another crack at the Dutch.

"Ray Houghton, too, showed a lot of dedication when he indicated that he was ready to make his own way to Holland but again, unfortunately, injury intervened.

Its not going to be the easiest game for us - it never was - but on the positive side, it will be a valuable learning experience for the younger players in the squad".

Niall Quinn and Liam O'Brien both took knocks in yesterday's game but are expected to be fit for the game.

. FAI officials yesterday explained why they decided to publish the findings of the external inquiry into their management of international match tickets.

The decision to publish the report undertaken by the Dublin, firm of chartered accountants, Bastow Charleton, was made only after a protracted meeting of the FAI council on Friday night.

"Obviously, it wasn't an easy one to make, but in view of the importance of the report, we considered it was the correct one," said a council member.

One of the more startling disclosures was that the FAI incurred a loss of £132,000 from the Republic of Ireland's participation in the World Cup finals in Italy six years ago.

A profit of £176,000 was recorded on USA 94, but a surplus of just £44,000 from two appearances in the World Cup finals will surprise many.