The Republic of Ireland management team received a timely boost this afternoon with the news that Gary Doherty has overcome a slight back injury and is set to face Georgia in Tbilisi on Saturday.
The Tottenham striker received a knock on his back during the club's 1-0 defeat to Bolton on Monday night and missed this morning's training session in Glasnevin.
"His back is a little stiff," explained Brian Kerr's assistant Chris Hughton. "Gary will be ready for Saturday...it was better for him to go through a recovery session in the swimming pool than take on a training session."
David Connolly and late-call up Graham Barrett were in action for Wimbledon and Brighton respectively last night and arrived at team headquarters this afternoon. Both were expected to train this evening, Hughton said.
Kerr, meanwhile, has called-up Birmingham veteran Jeff Kenna to provide cover in defence. The withdrawal of regular full backs Steven Finnan (rib), Gary Kelly (hamstring, shin splints) and Ian Harte (personal reasons) during the week has left the position bare but Kenna should provide robust cover if called upon.
Robbie Keane's availability for either Saturday's game or the Albania match this day week remains unclear following the death of his father on Monday night.
Brian Kerr's side desperately need to bag a full compliment of points from the week long jaunt if they are to stabilise their flagging Group 10 campaign and while confident of doing so, Hughton warned against underestimating albeit unfamiliar opponents.
He revealed the management team had looked at three to four videos of the opposition but stressed the difficulty with tactically dissecting international sides was the constant "experimenting and change" with new players, especially in friendly games.
"It's just trying to assess which team they [Georgia and Albania] are going to play but the pattern of play seems to be the same in most of the games. But regards personnel, that's just something we will have to determine."
Hughton, capped 53 times by the Republic, sees "an awful lot of quality" among the squad members assembled in the capital this week and believes there are "more individual players that can turn a game" than when he donned the green jersey under former manager Jack Charlton.
An FAI liaison officer in Georgia sent word today of sleet and snow falling in Tbilisi while temperatures have soared to a tropical 3 degrees Celsius. Hughton, however, is unperturbed about the conditions and stated the squad were well prepared.
"We have to adapt every week. Sometimes you play on pitches like bowling greens and the next week pitches which are poor, so a change in the weather will not be a problem."
The Republic of Ireland, meanwhile, remain unchanged in 14th position in the official FIFA rankings which were released today. Brazil once again occupy top spot while Spain have leapfrogged France into second.
Revised Ireland Squad:
Dean Kiely (Charlton Athletic), Nick Colgan (Hibernian), Shay Given (Newcastle United); Stephen Carr (Tottenham Hotspur), Jeff Kenna (Birmingham City), Gary Breen (West Ham United), Andy O'Brien (Newcastle United), Kenny Cunningham (Birmingham City), Richard Dunne (Manchester City), John O'Shea (Manchester United); Lee Carsley (Everton), Colin Healy (Celtic), Stephen McPhail (Leeds United), Alan Lee (Rotherham United), Mark Kinsella (Aston Villa), Matt Holland (Ipswich Town), Alan Quinn (Sheffield Wednesday); Damien Duff (Blackburn Rovers), Kevin Kilbane (Sunderland), Gary Doherty (Tottenham Hotspur), David Connolly (Wimbledon), Robbie Keane (Tottenham Hotspur), Graham Barrett (Arsenal - on loan to Brighton).