Mick McCarthy was yesterday attempting to put a bright face on a difficult task after the draw for the European Championship playoffs, ordained that the Republic of Ireland should travel for the second leg of their tie with Turkey.

With six of the eight teams already drawn, the principal interest in the last tie, focused on the team which would get home advantage in the return game. In the event, that was the Turks' good fortune and now the journey ahead is treacherous as Ireland seek to make it into the finals for the first time in 12 years.

As yet, no kick off time has been announced for the first game at Lansdowne Road on Saturday, November 13th. The return fixture takes place just four days later and while Istanbul is the probable venue, Turkish officials haven't ruled out the possibility of moving the game to Bursa where Turkey beat Germany 1-0 at the start of their qualifying programme.

A spokesman for UEFA that in the event of the scores being level on aggregate at the end of 180 minutes, the Golden Goal rule will not be implemented. Instead, 30 minutes extra-time will be played and if the tie is still unresolved at that point, a penalty shoot out, will be invoked.

He also confirmed that bookings received in the group games, will be carried over to the play offs, effectively ruling out Mark Kinsella who was carded for a second time in last Saturday's 1-1 draw with Macedonia.

Earlier Scotland were drawn at home in the first leg of a tie against England which promises to be even more dramatic, than their showdown in the 1996 European Championship at Wembley. Israel will host the first instalment of their tie against Denmark while Slovenia, entrusted with probably the biggest assignment of all, will have home advantage in their first game against the Ukraine.

While UEFA at their meeting on Tuesday, ruled out the possibility of seeding teams, the four countries thought to top the list, England, Ukraine, Denmark and Turkey were all drawn in separate ties. Even more remarkable, they will all enjoy the advantage of playing their return games at home.

If avoiding the Ukranians was McCarthy's first priority, the other scenario which filled him with apprehension was the thought of having to travel to Turkey with his hopes of qualification riding on the result. And to that extent, he was disappointed when the word from Aachen, filtered through to his home in London.

For as long as many of us care to remember on football trips around Europe, Turkey has been regarded as one of the most inhospitable of all destinations, a hot bed of fanaticism in which visiting teams occasionally, have to battle the crowd as well as the opposition.

Now, in an age when success in international sport is frequently equated with GNP in determining national morale, those excesses of enthusiasm are, if anything, more pronounced than ever.

Professionalism demands that the Irish management team concentrates on the positives, however, and in that vein, McCarthy was quick to recall Ireland's last visit there, when he captained the team in an European Championship assignment in Istanbul in 1991.

"On that occasion, too, the speculation was that we'd get a rough time from the crowd but in a sense, it only made us more determined to succeed," he said. "Our plan was to silence the crowd before they got intolerable and after scoring within a couple of minutes of the kick off, we went on to win the game 3-1.

"I can't imagine that the present squad of players is any less committed than we were. And if we could go and do the business then, there is no reason in the world, why this team can't get the result to qualify us for the finals.

"That said, a trip to Turkey is no joy ride for any team. When we were there, I recall all these spectators being penned in different parts of the crowd where firecrackers and smoke bombs were exploding. Let's say, its not the best environment for a visiting team to play in.

"But it could have been worse. We could have got the Ukraine who, in my opinion, are far and away the best team in the playoffs. Our results against Croatia proved that over two legs of a tie, we're capable of beating anybody."

Apart from McCarthy and a second member of the technical staff, Packie Bonner, other links with the 1991 squad are provided by Steve Staunton, Tony Cascarino, who scored one of the three Ireland goals in what was unquestionably one of their best away performances of modern years, and Alan McLoughlin.

In nine meetings with Ireland, the Turks have won just once - in 1967 - but the more relevant statistic, perhaps, is that in the current competition, they came within a point of edging out, Portugal for a place in the finals as the best of the second placed teams.

In the end, their hopes of qualifying for the finals without having to involve themselves in the lottery of the play-offs, perished because of a 4-2 home defeat by Finland. That was far and away their worst result, however, in a programme in which they illustrated their growing maturity by extracting four points from their two meetings with Germany.

Much of the credit for that has been attributed to the astute management of Mustaf Denzili who, building his squad on a solid base of Galatasaray players, has converted Turkey's rising profile at club level into a corresponding degree of success in international football.

Denzili was not in Aachen for yesterday's draw but he was quoted as saying that he regards Ireland as formidable opposition at this stage of the competition.

"When we were in Ireland to play in Belfast last month, I was able to watch the Republic of Ireland in their game against Yugoslavia and I was impressed by their performance.

"They are a strong, physical team but also with skill in the key positions. They play like teams in Britain and that makes them difficult opposition for us. I thought Roy Keane, Niall Quinn and Robbie Keane were very good. And of course, we know Tony Cascarino from before.

" We have no suspensions for the game and at this point, no serious injuries. It is also a help that we will be able to play the second game in front of our own supporters."

McCarthy indicated that he will be invoking the help of Lawrie McMenemy in his homework for the game and yesterday, the Northern Ireland manager said he will be happy co-operate in any way he can.

"All the videos we have of the Turks will, of course, be made available to Mick and his team," he said. "I'd like to say that the Republic will win easily but they know, as I do, that it's not going to be like that.

"As a team, the Turks have improved enormously. And with all that noise off the pitch, it's like having an extra player in their side. But Mick's lads are not likely to be put off by that - I don't think any Irish players, North or South, are easily fazed. And if they play as well as they can, they can still get a big result."