More discouraging news awaited Mick McCarthy yesterday when he learned, contrary to expectations, he will not be able to call on Steve Staunton for the Republic of Ireland's tour games against Mexico and the US next week.
Originally, Staunton said he hoped to join the depleted squad after his wife Joanne had given birth to their second child. The couple's son, Patrick, was born last Monday but mother and child are not expected to leave hospital until Sunday.
"I'm disappointed not to be going to America but at this time, I want to be with my wife and family," he said.
Staunton's withdrawal will accentuate McCarthy's problems at left back where he was forced to deploy a specialist winger, Kevin Kilbane, in an emergency role in Tuesday's 2-1 defeat by Scotland at Lansdowne Road.
Earlier, Damien Duff was also forced to withdraw from the squad with a pelvic injury. His withdrawal came as something of a shock as the Blackburn player showed no obvious signs of a problem after replacing Mark Kennedy against Scotland. It later emerged, however, that he had sustained the injury late in the game and after an early morning diagnosis, his name was deleted from the travelling party.
Given the number of left-footed players in the squad, the midfielder's loss is not insurmountable. However, Mick McCarthy will rue the departure of a player who is capable of doing an useful job up front.
"In view of the earlier withdrawals, it's a disappointment to lose a player of Damien's experience," McCarthy said.
The manager's immediate reaction was to call up Barry Quinn and Gary Doherty who only arrived back in Dublin on Tuesday after Ireland's elimination from the under-21 tournament in Toulon.
McCarthy had previously made it clear that he would embark on this course only as a last resort and it is indicative of the problems now facing him. Doherty is still recovering from a nose injury sustained in the game against Colombia last week but the incentive of winning a second senior cap is powerful enough to drive him through the pain barrier.
The mood in the camp was low key yesterday after an inadequate performance against the Scots and the consensus is that a sharp improvement is necessary to have any chance of bringing a high-flying Mexican team down to earth in Chicago.
Before taking to the Portmarnock golf links for some urgent off-duty therapy, McCarthy was at pains to raise the morale of players who sensed they hadn't done themselves justice on Tuesday.
"It's never easy to pick up the tempo after a break of a couple of weeks from competitive football and I like to think we'll prove ourselves a better team in Chicago," he said.
That's a hope echoed by Niall Quinn. "For a number of reasons, it just didn't happen for us against a fired-up Scottish team but the message should go out that we're going to America to win games," he said.
