Montenegro v Republic of Ireland (6pm Irish time): IN TIME, he may coax this Irish team into playing consistently attractive football, but at the moment Giovanni Trapattoni's press conferences can sometimes be a greater source of entertainment.
Certainly, yesterday's pre-match get together in Podgorica was an intensely amusing affair, not least because of the Italian's blossoming double act with his captain, Robbie Keane.
During Steve Staunton's reign, Keane tended to look a little like Sam the American Eagle from The Muppet Show, sitting bolt upright and coming across as self-consciously aloof. These days he can look at least as bemused as anyone on the media's side of the table by the events unfolding around him.
Invariably, of course, Trapattoni is the star of the show. Usually it's his infectious good humour that dominates the proceedings but, as we saw on Saturday, there is a steelier side to his character which can be wheeled out too.
In a cramped press conference room at the Podgorica Stadium where Trapattoni had come to discuss this evening's World Cup qualifier against Montenegro, we expected him to be all smiles again but when things started with him falling off a particularly mobile swivel chair, there was immediate concern that the 69-year-old might have hurt himself.
There was a collective gasp and a member of FAI security staff rushed to remonstrate with photographers who were taking pictures of the incident but within seconds the Italian had bounded back to his feet, grinning wildly and joking about having picked up an injury 24 hours before the game.
The serious business of the afternoon effectively amounted to a couple of questions about his team selection with the coach strongly suggesting that he will stick with the line-up that started in Mainz as long as Steven Reid's knee is okay. With Reid coming through training last night without any apparent problem he expressed confidence that it would be.
Earlier, Keane reacted coolly to a question about Alex Ferguson's "surprise" that Liverpool would pay so much for him. "I'm surprised that John O'Shea doesn't play every week," he replied without hesitation, "but the game's about opinions and everyone's entitled to theirs."
All in all, it was strange stuff for the eve of such an important game, but it was hard to avoid the conclusion there is a developing warmth between coach and captain.
There appears to be a confidence within the camp, too, that they can build on Saturday's win in Mainz by beating Montenegro tonight in front of what is expected to be a capacity 12,000 crowd at the city centre venue.
It won't be easy, though, for the home side's status as sixth seeds ridiculously misrepresents their ability, something the draw salvaged by Bulgaria on Saturday here, thanks to a very late goal, clearly underlined.
The home side's coach, Zoran Flipovic, admitted that he would have to do a little work on restoring his young team's confidence, but the team will feed off the huge amount of local pride and enthusiasm generated by the fact that a nation that provided almost half of Yugoslavia's squad for the World Cup finals in 1998 is now fielding a team of its own on the international stage.
In any case, defensive midfielder Nikola Drincic didn't seem overly downcast yesterday. "They (the Irish) are faster and stronger than the Bulgarians," he said, "but our midfield contains more quality and we can control things, make Ireland play our game."
The home side possess an impressive range of talents in midfield and Trapattoni yesterday listed the likes of Fiorentina's Stevan Jovetic, Branko Boskovic of Rapid Vienna and Sporting Lisbon's Simon Vukcevic as potential threats. Vukcevic had a shoulder injury and didn't start on Saturday but will probably feature from the outset. Roma's Mirko Vucinic is likely to start as the only striker and his movement, in front of three attacking midfielders, should make him a handful. The Irish, though, defended well at the weekend and if they are patient, there should be opportunities for Keane and Kevin Doyle.
Critically, though, this will be the sternest test yet for Steven Reid and Glenn Whelan in central midfield and their ability to hold their own in what is likely to be a densely populated area of the pitch may go a long way towards deciding whether Trapattoni's men can register what would be a highly respectable second win.
TONIGHT'S LINE-UPS
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND:Given (Newcastle Utd); Finnan (Espanyol), O'Shea (Manchester Utd), Dunne (Manchester City), Kilbane (Wigan Ath); Hunt (Reading), Whelan (Stoke City), S Reid (Blackburn Rovers), McGeady (Celtic); Doyle (Reading), Keane (Liverpool).
MONTENEGRO:Poleksic (Debrecen); Pavicevic (Energie Cottbus), Batak (Ankaraspor), Tanasijevic (Dynamo Moscow), Bozovic (Rapid Bucharest); Drincic (Amkar Perm), Pekovic (Mainz 05); Jovetic (Fiorentina), Vukcevic (Sporting Lisbon), Boskovic (Rapid Vienna); Vucinic (Roma).
Referee:Sten Kaldma (Estonia).
Montenegro v Rep of Ireland
Venue:Podgorica
Kick-off:8pm Irish time
On TV:RTE Two and Setanta Ireland
