The Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy has hinted he will not make drastic changes to his Republic of Ireland team for their final Group E clash against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
Ireland need to win by two clear goals to progress to the knockout stage of the World Cup finals, but the manager is likely to keep faith with his regular 4-4-2 line-up of players rather than load the team with extra attacking options.
"We have played well and created a lot of chances in this tournament so far," said McCarthy. "I know we have scored only one goal in each game, but we have created a lot of chances.
"You could change it from the start and completely confuse the issue and muddy the water by doing something different, when we have played ever so well and created chances.
"We'll just be looking to take one or two more of those chances which come along.
"I shall wait and see how everybody is but I think we have played well and I don't know about making changes from the start for the sake of it."
McCarthy's suggested that he may opt not to start with Niall Quinn even after the big striker made the vital major difference Ireland needed when he came on as a substitute against Germany.
"He does give us an option but if we start out that way and it doesn't work then where do we go to try something else?" said McCarthy.
"We can't replace him with another of his ilk if anything happens, so he is something to change the game with."
After being given a day off after the match, the squad returned to training without seven players who were rested,
Shay Given (hip), Steve Finnan (hamstring), Gary Breen (calf), Steve Staunton (hamstring), Matt Holland (rib), Mark Kinsella (knee), and Jason McAteer (knee) all protected their injuries. But McCarthy says all but Jason McAteer are expected to be ready to face the eliminated Saudi Arabian team.
"The players were very tired today," said McCarthy. "The ones who haven't played I gave a bit of extra work today, and the ones who felt no ill-effects from the game all trained. It is about giving them a bit of a rest.
"The injured ones will be all right. Jason's knee is quite sore. He has been taking anti-inflammatories which upset his stomach so he had to come off them and his knee is a bit inflamed because of it."
Meanwhile, the FAI has announced an independent review of their involvement in this World Cup will be undertaken once they return home, following the handling of the Roy Keane affair.
An FAI statement read: "Irrespective of the outcome of the team's remaining participation in World Cup 2002, the officers and general secretary of the FAI are recommending to their board of management that an independent external review of the Association's organisation and involvement in World Cup 2002 be undertaken upon our return to Ireland. The report will be made public when completed."
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