SOCCER -World Cup Qualifying 2006/ Ireland 3; Cyprus 0: Roy Keane is set to earn his 61st international cap in Basel this week after the 33-year-old midfielder joined up with the Ireland squad in Dublin last night - but there was also bad news from the Irish camp yesterday with John O'Shea ruled out of Wednesday's game due to a knee injury.

Keane had been named in Brian Kerr's panel for both of the Republic's opening World Cup qualifiers and then publicly ruled out of the games after Alex Ferguson announced he was suffering from fractured ribs and needed three weeks' rest.

Kerr said yesterday, however, he had always remained hopeful the player might be fit to travel to Switzerland and after a few good days of training with United it had been decided he had made sufficient progress to join the squad ahead of the trip.

"When Roy withdrew from the squad almost immediately on its announcement," the Republic of Ireland manager said in a statement released through the FAI yesterday, "we had discussions with him and Manchester United about the possibility he could return from his rib injury in time for the second match of our programme.

"It was agreed to keep the matter under review but make no public comment. Earlier this week, Roy began light training with his club and has made considerable progress and so will now report to the Irish squad in preparation for the match in Basel."

The manager made it clear he expected the former Irish skipper to be fit to play against the Swiss and it seems certain he will be included in the Republic's midfield at the expense of Cardiff City's Graham Kavanagh.

If he does play it will be the Manchester United player's first competitive game for Ireland since the first leg of the play-off against Iran in the last World Cup campaign and his first outside this country since the qualifying game in Estonia more than two years ago.

His return is a major boost to the Irish ahead of one of the most important games of this World Cup qualifying campaign. The team's hopes of making it to Euro 2004 were ended when they were beaten 2-0 in Basel just short of a year ago when Keane's absence was widely cited as having been a significant factor in a dispirited team performance.

The loss of O'Shea, however, is a significant blow and will limit Kerr's options on Wednesday. Having left Ian Harte out of his squad the Ireland manager does not have a natural left-back available to him for the Swiss game but several of his squad have played there, most notably Alan Maybury who is a regular in the position with his club Hearts.

Maybury, though, is very short of competitive international experience and if Kerr decides instead to play Steve Finnan there it will deprive him of the opportunity to field a slightly more defensive side in which the Liverpool player could have started on the right side of midfield with Saturday's man of the match Andy Reid switching to the left and Damien Duff starting behind Robbie Keane in the centre.

O'Shea's departure from the squad followed a scan yesterday which showed a tear in the lower thigh muscle just above the knee. The 23-year-old had been carrying a slight injury before Saturday's 3-0 win over Cyprus but received a knock during the game that aggravated the problem. "There is simply too little time for him to recover before Wednesday's game and so he will not travel to Switzerland," said Kerr last night.

Duff, meanwhile, received a kick to his calf on Saturday that will prevent him from training for the next couple of days. The Chelsea winger, however, is expected to be fit for Wednesday's game, as are Kavanagh and Stephen Carr who are recovering from an ankle strain and stomach upset respectively.

The Irish will travel today in confident mood after goals from Clinton Morrison, Reid and Robbie Keane earned them a very comfortable win over the Cypriots. There was good news too from Paris where the qualification favourites France failed to score against Israel in a game that ended goalless.

It was a deeply frustrating first competitive game for the French team's new coach Raymond Domenech. His side dominated at the Stade de France but couldn't make the required breakthrough against determined visitors. Thierry Henry should have scored late on but the Israelis hung on to claim a point that makes the group look rather open after the first round of games.

The Swiss currently occupy top spot after their 6-0 demolition of the Faroe Islands at the St Jakob Park in Basel.

Hat-tricks from Alexandre Rey and 17- year-old Johan Vonlanthen gave the home team their win.