Mick McCarthy will have at least one difficult call to make this morning, before announcing a reduced squad of 20 players for the forthcoming European championship games against Yugoslavia, Croatia and Malta.
With Jason McAteer now officially confirmed as a non-starter for this crucial segment of the qualifying programme, the manager will be looking to either Gary Kelly or Jeff Kenna to broaden his options for the right sided midfield position.
The problem is that he has little relevant form to work on since Kelly and Kenna are, themselves, only recently recovered from injuries.
In Kelly's case, he hasn't played a competitive game in more than a year. And while he took a restricted part in Leeds United's pre-season programme, he is still waiting on a summons to action in the Premiership.
Kenna's fitness problems stretch back to February when he was injured in Blackburn's FA Cup defeat by Newcastle United. He subsequently underwent an operation on his leg, on the same day as the club was relegated, but was sufficiently recovered to share in their preparations for the new season.
Significantly, Brian Kidd left him on the bench for their opening game in the First Division, against Port Vale a week last Saturday but in spite of his relative shortage of match practice, he was able to assure McCarthy over the weekend that his level of fitness was good.
With Mark Kennedy enjoying a reasonable degree of success when he switched flanks to play on the right, in the 1-0 win over Macedonia in June, there would appear to be only one other place on offer in this area. And if the manager has already made the definitive judgment on two of the senior members of his squad, he certainly wasn't prepared to disclose it yesterday.
Neither would he comment on his choice of replacement for his first choice goalkeeper, Shay Given, who, like McAteer, is still stricken with the injury which put him out of contention for the Macedonian fixture in the first week of June.
In this instance, however, it is reasonably certain that the vacancy will again be filled by Blackburn's Alan Kelly with Dean Kiely edging out Oldham's Gary Kelly and Keith Branagan for the task of providing cover. Alan Kelly required treatment over the weekend for a muscular problem but after physiotherapy yesterday, he is already on the road to recovery.
Given the fact that he must undertake three games in the space of eight days, the manager is not over burdened by a squad of 20. Many would see a valid case for the inclusion of at least three more players in the party as a contingency measure for the away fixtures against Croatia and Malta.
Barring further additions, there are at least three senior players at risk of being being left out as McCarthy seeks to balance his selection sufficiently, to take account of any emergency.
Among them is David Connolly who could find himself squeezed if the manager decides to go with just four specialist forwards. As of now, Niall Quinn and Robbie Keane, look likely to start against Yugoslavia and with Tony Cascarino and Keith O'Neill heading the queue to provide the back up, Connolly may be disappointed.
Others headed for a similar fate include the Premiership pair, Gareth Whalley and Rory Delap. Both men currently discharge important responsibilities in midfield for Bradford and Derby County respectively and yet, can scarcely expect to survive the cut this morning.
Whalley, highly influential in Bradford's promotion, has performed well since arriving in the Premiership and Delap, fit again after a depressing sequence of injuries, boasts versatility as one of his prime assets. Still, it is scarcely conceivable that Lee Carsley and Alan McLoughlin will be now dropped to make way for them.
After watching Steve Carr perform with distinction in the games against Sweden and Macedonia, McCarthy will, likewise, be loath to omit the Tottenham player. But faced with the problem of having to accommodate Steve Staunton and, possibly Ian Harte, the numbers may make it impossible for him to avoid it.
Since winning his first cap in Iceland two years ago, Kevin Kilbane has had to live with the uncertainty of those on the fringes. Now after making a significant impact on his arrival as a second half replacement against Macedonia, his claims for retention will be stronger than usual.
Damien Duff, almost certainly, still rates as McCarthy's first choice on the left side of midfield but the evidence of the June fixture was that the leggy West Bromwich player may provide an acceptable alternative.
