THE first big test of Mick McCarthy's reign arrives this evening when the Republic of Ireland face the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in a World Cup group eight qualifier at Lansdowne Road (7.30). After the summary destruction of a weak Liechtenstein side in Vaduz, the Republic now face a team approaching the real thing.

The test facing McCarthy arrives in a climate of uncertainty induced by injuries and the disintegration of the squad which served Ireland so well in the past. Not until tonight's mission has been concluded can he be certain that the rebuilding programme, undertaken with some courage on his appointment at the start of the year, is on schedule.

On the face of it, Macedonia should not present too many problems. Yet, the Irish manager is quick to stress the element of threat in an assignment which has been dismissed unwisely by some as a mere stopover on the journey to the two meetings with Romania early next year.

"People who contend that Macedonia are just making up the numbers in this game simply don't know what they're talking about," says McCarthy. "To be perfectly honest, I don't know much about them either, but of one thing I'm certain, teams from that part of the world are invariably technically sound.

Unless we are very careful and go about the job in as thorough and professional way as we can, we may find ourselves in a spot of bother."

The warning, predictable but still valid, is timely. Three wins in 15 games since the last joyful fling of the Jack Charlton era, against Portugal in April of last year, is a statistic which brooks little argument.

While the graph has climbed in the last two fixtures against Bolivia and Liechtenstein, the reality is that the current team is still a long way removed from the standards of tour years ago.

To earn a place alongside Charlton's better sides they must first re-establish Lansdowne Road as a ground which frightens the opposition. Success in World Cup competition still derives largely from banking maximum points at home and conjuring the occasional inspired performance away.

Another capacity crowd will ensure that the essential vocal support will be forthcoming this evening, but questions remain to be answered on the pitch by a team which still awaits a significant success.

The pluses in the squad which McCarthy is now building include extra pace and a genuine element of competition for first team places. From a situation in which the running power had dwindled, there is now, refreshingly, a lot more movement in the side.

As some of those who opted out of the close season programme will testify, first-team status based on past performances is no longer guaranteed, not even for the most senior players.

The downside is that a broad seam of experience has been ripped from the team which McCarthy, after much agonising, will send into action with the ringing message of reducing their margin of error to the minimum.

Forced to replace the injured trio of Ray Houghton, Roy Keane and Niall Quinn, McCarthy refused to budge from an earlier decision to delay his team selection until noon today.

In a surprisingly vigorous training session, in which players put themselves about in a manner reminiscent of McCarthy's playing days, both Gary Breen and Alan Moore appeared to do enough to allay doubts about their fitness.

Moore's role, almost certainly will be to provide cover for the midfielders and frontrunners, but unless the manager deviates sharply from earlier judgements Breen will be numbered among the three central defenders.

Whether the out of favour Phil Babb joins him there depends on McCarthy's plans for Denis Irwin in the reshuffle necessitated by Houghton's absence. The expectation is that Jason McAteer will be assigned the job which Houghton performed so efficiently in Vaduz, leaving Irwin and Jeff Kenna as the prime candidates for the right-sided midfield position.

On the basis that he did nothing wrong against Liechtenstein, Kenna is entitled to fancy his chances, leaving Irwin to fill one of the central roles. Significantly, however, the manager took time off earlier in the week to warn that some players would be asked to discharge different responsibilities from those undertaken five weeks ago.

The other big talking point is the formation of the attack, undeniably weakened by Quinn's latest knee injury. Unless predictions are way off target, Keith O'Neill will be rewarded for his achievement in scoring, four times in seven games

Traditionally, Irish managers have favoured a runner playing off a target man and that suggests Tony Cascarino is favourite to start his first World Cup game for some time.

Pointedly, however, John Aldridge filled a big role in yesterday's training and after being deemed surplus to requirements for the first game, he may yet have a contribution to make.

Macedonia, not one of the stronger footballing regions in the days when Yugoslavian teams were claiming a place among the elite of Europe, have surprised many by the quality of their performances since becoming a separate entity.

Draws with Belgium and Denmark indicated a sharp competitive streak among the players whom manager Dokica Gjoka has recalled from clubs around Europe to serve the national cause. The point was illustrated yet again in the opening matches of their group eight campaign and they currently head the group after a comfortable 3-0 home win over Liechtenstein and a hard-earned draw in Iceland.

With Darko Panehev, the former Inter Milan player. still ruled out by injury, Gjoko is deprived of his principal rallying point. Against that, the assorted skills of players like Igo Nikoloski and Goce Sedoski should give the Irish problems.

For all the apprehension, however, this is a game which Ireland should win. How they set about achieving it will tell much about the bigger, potentially more hazardous tests yet to be tackled