Roy Keane yesterday did his bit to ensure the financial success of the Republic of Ireland's opening game of the year by confirming that he will be available for the friendly international with the Czech Republic at Lansdowne Road on February 23rd.

Keane's availability had been in question because of Manchester United's crowded programme, but he has informed Mick McCarthy that he is being released for the start of the build-up programme for the World Cup qualifying campaign.

Whether that co-operation extends to the Ireland fixtures that are being planned for March and April remains to be seen, but for the moment the manager is grateful to have his captain on board for the upcoming game.

"When I spoke with Roy, he was very upbeat about coming over for the Czech game and that pleases me no end," he said. "There are few more consistent international teams than the Czech Republic and I don't wish to have to take them on with a heavily weakened team.

"Roy's presence at the hub of the team gives us that little bit extra and to that extent this is good news. Apart from Denis Irwin and Alan McLoughlin, who have retired, and Lee Carsley, who is injured, I have no word at this point of any of our established players missing the game."

Keane played in last year's match against Paraguay, but then missed the remainder of Ireland's games until the end of the season. Already there are doubts that he will be available for the three-match tour of the United States in June.

FAI chief executive Bernard O'Byrne said yesterday that he was disappointed to learn that Ian Evans had been quoted over the weekend as saying he was sacked as manager of the Republic of Ireland's under-21 team.

O'Byrne was speaking at the formal announcement of Don Givens's appointment to the post on a full-time, four-year contract. Evans, meanwhile, will now concentrate on assisting McCarthy in the management of the senior squad.

"I prefer to view Ian as returning to the job he was originally assigned," said O'Byrne. "In a sense, we imposed on him by also asking him to take charge of the under-21 team and in time the secondary job took up more of his time than the one to which he was originally appointed."

Givens said that he had spoken at the weekend with Evans, with whom he played at QPR, and he had no difficulty with the new arrangement.

On the priorities of his new posting, he said: "I've always been very competitive in football and results are important to me. But I see my biggest responsibility as feeding players through to Mick McCarthy, hopefully on the back of good team performances."

Givens, who will continue to live in Birmingham, said he was encouraged by the quality of many of the Irish players emerging from under-age teams. He also stressed that, beginning with the Bohemians game against Shelbourne on Friday evening, he will be trawling the domestic scene in search of suitable talent.