Rep of Ireland v Norway Lansdowne Road, 7.30It seems safe to assume that when Italy came to Dublin almost 32 year ago for a European Championship qualifier that marked Ireland's first game at Lansdowne Road, the majority of teenagers amongst the crowd were hoping that some day it might be them out there on the field representing the Republic.

Brian Kerr watched that game from "somewhere up the top there, behind the goal", but even then it was probably Mick Meagan's seat in the home side's dugout that the 17-year-old Dubliner had his eye on.

Tonight he'll finally be in it, taking charge of Ireland's first home game since he succeeded Mick McCarthy and assuming the responsibility of getting this Irish team to next year's European finals in Portugal.

This evening's low key friendly against Norway will have no bearing on that qualifying campaign but the experience will, he admits, still be a very emotional one. With home games two and three looming large on the horizon, however, he won't get to take more than a moment or two to really savour the occasion.

Kerr has made clear over the last few days his desire to restore lost momentum to a team that came badly off the rails in the last days of McCarthy's reign. Having won two and drawn one of their games since the new man took over there's a sense that the confidence is returning and another decent result - the form book suggests a draw with the last five meetings between these two teams producing just one goal - is clearly something of a priority ahead of the visits by Albania and Georgia.

With the new manager also intent on fielding a fairly settled side, there will not be too many changes from the team that drew in Tirana, although the absence of Kenny Cunningham and John O'Shea, both of whom were allowed to leave the squad yesterday after being ruled out of the game through injury, has created a couple of vacancies in the Irish back four.

Richard Dunne will take Cunningham's place alongside Gary Breen in central defence while Matt Holland will inherit his captain's armband and if Steve Carr has fully shaken off the back problem that has been troubling him in recent days then Steve Finnan may just edge Ian Harte for the number three shirt he looked sure to wear in Scotland before a bout of flu forced him out of the reckoning.

Elsewhere Kerr is free to stick with the players that featured last time and he has already confirmed that Shay Given will earn his 50th international cap as part of the starting line-up with Nicky Colgan coming on later to get "a decent part of the game".

After that his intentions are unclear, although there was only the manager's observation that he would like Ireland to play a more attacking game at home to suggest that he will change anything at all ahead of the vital home matches against Albania and Georgia in June.

Even then it seems that only Lee Carsley's place on the right side of midfield is genuinely up for grabs. With Mark Kinsella struggling to get even reserve games at club level, depriving him of an outing this evening would serve little purpose while it would also seem prudent to allow Damien Duff and Robbie Keane to further cement their striking partnership if they are again going to be relied upon for goals in six weeks' time.

If Duff plays up front then Kevin Kilbane is sure to retain his spot on the left and that only leaves Carsley, despite respectable performances in the last two qualifiers, looking vulnerable to being replaced by a more attacking player outside on the right.

Kerr, though, is not falling down with options. Steven Reid expects to be available for the Albania game and this gives the manager the chance to look at either Colin Healy or Alan Quinn in that position. And given the Celtic midfielder's continued lack of opportunities at club level, it could just be that Quinn gets to make his senior debut this evening.

The Norwegians arrive brimming with confidence after securing 10 points from their opening four qualifying games. They too would welcome a win but they are missing key personnel.

Asked if his motivational efforts with the Irish players before tonight's game might involve some talk of the Vikings and the terrible wrongs they had committed here in times gone by, Kerr laughed and said he didn't think so.

"Still," he added quickly, "when we were over for an underage game a few years back we were in the museum in Roskilde, I think it was, and there was a lot of stuff that was, well, basically robbed from here."

His grin broadened as he turned to Dunne who was sitting by his side. "There was a lot of chalices and other gold stuff, and a lot of good stuff from Tallaght," he told the defender from Dublin 24.

A few yards away Tore Andre Flo was training on the Lansdowne Road pitch, blissfully unaware that tonight he may pay for the sins of his ancestors.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND (possible): Given (Newcastle Utd); Carr (Tottenham), Breen (West Ham), Dunne (Manchester City), Finnan (Fulham); Quinn (Sheffield Wed), Holland (Ipswich Town), Kinsella (Aston Villa), Kilbane (Sunderland); Keane (Tottenham), Duff (Blackburn Rovers).

NORWAY: Olsen; Basma, Lundekvam, Johnsen, Bergdolmo; Carew, Svindal Larsen, Andersen, Leonhardsen, Iversen; Flo.