MICK MCCARTHY was close to disillusionment yesterday after Roy Keane had again failed to report at the Republic of Ireland team headquarters in Dublin.

Attempts to establish his whereabouts have not been successful and it is now doubtful if he will play in tomorrow's game against Portugal at Lansdowne Road.

McCarthy who, with some members of his squad, took the day off from football to play in a golf competition at St Margaret's is not yet ready to push the alarm button.

On his return to the hotel, the manager discovered a note informing him that Keane had telephoned but efforts to establish who took the call proved unsuccessful. "All I know is that somebody wrote a note saying that the player had called and didn't leave a message," he said.

Undeniably, Keane's indifference to the normal courtesies of the professional game, has presented McCarthy with something of a crisis in the infant days of his reign.

"I repeat what I said on Sunday, Roy is one of the best players around and I want him in my team," said McCarthy.

"To that extent, I don't wish to put the gun to anybody's head but it is, of course, disappointing, that I have not been able to speak with him.

"I'll pick the team for the Portuguese game on the basis of who is available and who is playing well and if Roy doesn't show, we'll just have to get on without him".

Keane has not been in contact with either McCarthy or the FAI since finishing his club season in Manchester United's FA Cup final win over Liverpool at Wembley on May 11th.

He is understood to have travelled to Capri shortly afterwards but unconfirmed reports suggest that he left the holiday island last Tuesday.

A message was communicated to the FAI by the club the following day, to the effect that the player was resting a hamstring injury but the expectation was that he would turn up later in the week at the base which McCarthy had established in Co Monaghan.

His failure to do so and his subsequent no show for the testimonial game against Celtic at Lansdowne Road last Sunday, now leaves the manager with a crisis of priorities.

Conscious of the player's high rate of absenteeism from the European championship qualifying campaign in which Keane played in only three of 11 games, he made a conscious decision to court his goodwill.

This accounted in part for his decision last week to name the Manchester United player as captain of the team for next month's American tour in the absence of Andy Townsend. The hope was that by entrusting the player with extra responsibility, he would feel a greater sense of involvement. That is still the grand plan but it is a policy fraught with some risk.

McCarthy must be seen to impose his authority at the start of his term of office and for all the added qualities which Keane brings to the side, they must be measured against the erosion of confidence which would result from over tolerance.

It is a delicate equation which must be handled with careful judgment and the unspoken message in the camp yesterday was that the player would spare his manager some agonising decisions by reporting for duty today.

It is the latest chapter in the controversial saga of the player who joined Nottingham Forest from Cobh Ramblers for just £30,000 and three years later became a Manchester United player for a then club record fee of £3.75 million.

Keane's share of the deal was £675,000 and this, allied to the improved, new contract which he is expected to sign at Manchester United, makes him one of the bigger earners in British football.

In spite of his frequent brushes with authority at club level, his Ireland record Was impeccable until his sending off for kicking an opponent in the closing minutes of the 2-0 defeat by Russia in March. Off the pitch, his conduct was never been a problem and Jack Charlton spoke of him last year, as a quiet man who only rarely got involved in discussion.

That is an image which contrasts starkly with his boisterous demeanour on the field but in a sense, it encapsulates the enigma of the man who rates among the most newsworthy in the game in Britain.

McCarthy reported yesterday that there were no serious fitness problems after the 3-0 win over Celtic and hopes to be in a position to announce a team after this morning's training session at Lansdowne Road.