Time to rediscover battling spirit

SOCCER/World Cup Qualifying Group Four/Rep of Ireland v France: Brian Kerr's ongoing efforts to dispel the impression abroad that his team's football remains rooted in the Jack Charlton era may have been hampered this week in France by Tony Cascarino's enduring status as the Irish game's most celebrated export to the country.

Still, now might not be the time for the visitors to expect a more refined approach from a side that will, one hopes, bring at least as much pride and passion as panache to this evening's vital World Cup qualifier at Lansdowne Road.

The manager expressed surprise tinged with dismay earlier this week that anyone could still dismiss the Irish as long-ball merchants a decade after the Charlton era ended. The football tonight should certainly be a good deal prettier. But a display of the battling qualities associated with the teams that went to two World Cups and a European Championship during the Englishman's reign would not be unwelcome as Kerr looks to secure not just three points but a potentially decisive advantage in this group's four-way race to qualify for Germany next summer.

Almost a year after the Irish looked fractionally the better side in Paris, Kerr is able to name the same starting 11 against what a radically altered French line up.

After yesterday's final training session, however, he looked less likely to do so and there were suggestions, albeit slight ones, that a combination of Richard Dunne's club form and the ability of Andy Reid to provide a varied attacking game would prompt changes.

Dunne's form, notwithstanding his performance against Italy last month, when he was less than fully fit, has been impressive and the 25-year-old can look back with some satisfaction on his encounter with Thierry Henry at Highbury last season.

If he has completely shaken off the virus that affected him last week Andy O'Brien could well play but the Dubliner would add extra pace in an area where it will be needed as well as an additional threat to the French goal from set pieces.

Steve Finnan would be unlucky to lose out given his display at the Stade de France, where he did much to limit Henry's influence from deep positions, but a transformed tactical approach by Raymond Domenech and the return of Zinedine Zidane present a very different set of challenges and so Kerr may well see the flanks as his team's best route forward.

They certainly cannot expect to dominate in the centre as they did in Paris, where Olivier Dacourt and Rio Mavuba were overwhelmed by Roy Keane and Kevin Kilbane. A great deal will again depend on the ability of the two Irishmen to assert themselves. The role of Keane, who did not look entirely comfortable at times in training yesterday, in winning possession and turning defence into attack will be of pivotal importance. The presence of Zidane, Claude Makelele and Keane's old foe Patrick Vieira, however, will present the pair with a hugely increased challenge this time around.

If the French have a weakness it is surely in central defence. Jean Alain Boumsong has a habit of making costly mistakes in big games, and the 25-year-old looks particularly vulnerable in the air. Lillian Thuram is much more solid but may not be at his best after picking up a dead leg against the Faroe Islands over the weekend. And if the World Cup winner fails to make it, the sight of Monaco's Sebastien Squillaci will hardly inspire confidence among the 3,500-odd visiting fans.

With Robbie Keane operating just off Clinton Morrison the pair have the potential to cause their opponents great difficulty in and around the area, though their efforts may be somewhat frustrated by the fact that Makelele and Vieira are two of Europe's very best defensive midfielders.

The efforts of Damien Duff and, if he plays, Reid will be vital in opening up the visitors for the system the French play provides them with little width in midfield, where the Irish should find space to operate. As they press forward, though, they will meet defenders of considerable quality.

William Gallas may be unhappy at left back but is still an accomplished performer in the role even if he does not quite get forward down the flanks in the way Willy Sagnol does on the right. Ideally, given the system, both would press on when the chance arises. But Domenech's options are limited not only in this department but also farther forward on the left, where either PSG's Vikash Dhorasoo or Florent Malouda of Lyon would look to be the weakest element of a three-man line of support for Thierry Henry, who is expected to operate as a lone striker.

These things are relative, though, for few could compare well with Zidane or even Sylvain Wiltord in such a role and Dhorasoo, the likely starter, is, at 29, an experienced player with stints at Lyon, Bordeaux and Milan.

For the visitors just as for the Irish, though, it is the contribution of their major figures that is likely to prove decisive. At anything like their best Zidane and Henry will test Ireland's defences to their limits while Vieira and Makelele will do much to smother the home side's attack.

Much has been made during the build-up of this game of the spirit shown four years ago when the Republic beat Holland on the way to the country's first major championship since 1994 but on that September day Mick McCarthy's side enjoyed more than their share of good fortune as Patrick Kluivert passed up a string of goalscoring chances, the referee waved away a decent-looking penalty claim by the Dutch and their coach made some calamitous tactical decisions.

Without that old chestnut, fighting spirit, even a draw would look a tall order for the home side this evening but if Brian Kerr's side is actually to beat the French and take a major step towards the finals they could probably use a helping of that most clichéd of commodities the luck of the Irish.

IRELAND (probable): Given (Newcastle United); Carr (Newcastle United), Cunningham (Birmingham City), Dunne (Manchester City), O'Shea (Manchester United); Duff (Chelsea), Keane (Manchester United), Kilbane (Everton), Reid (Tottenham Hotspur); Morrison (Crystal Palace), Keane (Tottenham Hotspur).

FRANCE (probable): Coupet (Lyon); Sagnol (Bayern Munich), Thuram (Juventus), Boumsong (Newcastle United), Gallas (Chelsea); Makelele (Chelsea), Vieira (Juventus); Wiltord (Lyon), Zidane (Real Madrid), Dhorasoo (PGS); Henry (Arsenal).

Referee: H Fandel (Ger).