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20 May 2002
McCARTHY - MIDFIELD DUO FIT

The Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy has played down fears over the fitness of Jason McAteer and Matt Holland.

Both players missed Ireland's first training session but McCarthy says that the pair are no cause for concern.

The Sunderland and Ipswich midfielders picked up ankle knocks in Thursday's 2-1 friendly defeat by Nigeria and missed a light training session at the weekend. The rest of the squad was taken through a few light sessions at first in the Asian heat and humidity.

"The lads just had a blow today, just a sweat, to get their lungs open," said McCarthy.

"It was just a case of getting them back into the swing of things after travelling for 24 hours.

"I am not worried about Jason or Matt's fitness levels, they are extremely fit, and I am sure they will be back in training tomorrow.

"We'll not be doing masses while we are here, and certainly we'll be doing more technical and tactical work when we get to Izumo next week. Here it is just about getting acclimatised and I am very happy with the facilities - it is a lovely place.

"It is hotter and more humid here than in Tokyo, which is one of the reasons we came here."

The team is being encouraged to drink five litres of fluids per day as they acclimatise to the heat of the region.

"We want the players to get out in the sun - as long as they don't get burned - and behave as they normally would," said McCarthy.

"It is important for them to get used to the sun and the heat. As long as they replace the fluids and carbohydrates then we don't see a problem, because if they are in the sunshine every other hour they will lose an extra 150 calories over and above what they normally do.

"But we have not changed our routine because we qualified for the finals doing certain things and we don't want to do anything different. They are eating the same foods, mainly pasta which is perfect for them, but they might find they are eating more of it if they are losing carbohydrates in training."

The Republic of Ireland boss says that the team has to have a good collective spirit and also have to know how to avoid boredom if they are to do well in such unfamiliar surroundings.

"We had to come out this early in order to acclimatise to the conditions," he said.

"We are going to be together for a long time and so you have to have a good, tight, unit. The players have things to keep them occupied, such as DVDs and video games, and we shall lay on as much as we can to avoid people being bored.

"They enjoy each other's company, which is a bonus, and there is a fair bit of craic between them. Most of the players have wives or girlfriends coming out to Tokyo and I have no worries about that. Wives and kids also help alleviate the boredom."

Mick McCarthy

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