International tour: Having slipped unnoticed into the US on Friday, Ireland's post-season, two-stop tour of the Eastern seaboard went from low-key to below the radar yesterday as John O'Shea became the latest to decide against travelling.

The 26-year-old played just eight minutes of Saturday's English FA Cup final against Chelsea, but Steve Staunton said the player was remaining in England to receive treatment for the recurrence of a back problem which is affecting his hamstring.

Staunton merely said he was "disappointed" by the news, before confirming that Kevin Kilbane, who has more than twice as many caps as the rest of the remaining players combined, would now captain the side on Wednesday evening against Ecuador.

Cork City midfielder Joe Gamble did arrive yesterday, but, while his team-mate Roy O'Donovan expressed his disappointment over not receiving a call-up, the extent to which Staunton is having to scratch around for bodies was highlighted by the news that Notre Dame's Joe Lapira has been added to the panel.

He may have been named the best college player in the US last year, but it's unlikely the 20-year-old, who has resisted the opportunity to play Major League Soccer, reckoned the honour would lead to a spell in the Irish international set-up.

Although there was neither confirmation nor denial yesterday, his arrival at the squad's base at Montclair State University in New Jersey suggests two existing Irish MLS players, Michael Parkhurst and Ronnie O'Brien, who played for their clubs over the weekend, have declined invitations to join Stan's boys in green.

One of those who was trying to impress Staunton at training yesterday sufficiently to persuade the manager to hand him his first senior cap on Wednesday was 21-year-old striker Andy Keogh, whose late-season goals helped secure Wolves' place in the Championship play-offs.

For all of his manager's problems, the young Dubliner is understandably excited about the prospect of making his debut at the site of that famous match in 1994 which constitutes one of his earliest memories of the game.

"I can even remember it all right," he says with a grin. "I was only about seven and we were just moving into a new house in Dún Laoghaire. It was the day we moved in and we had nothing. We were sitting on the wooden floors with the TV on the ground watching the game.

"I remember the Ray Houghton goal perfectly. With my ma (Linda), my da (Declan) and my brother (Kenny) - the four of us on the wooden floor watching the box. It was great.

"Hopefully I'll get a chance to run out there now. That would be fantastic."

And to lob the Ecuadorian goalkeeper from just outside the area?

"Yeah, that would be nice. I'd take that."

Whether he plays or not, this trip will round off what has been a remarkable season for Keogh. He started it strongly with Scunthorpe before moving for €900,000 to Wolves in January. The step up took a little bit of adjusting to, but four goals in eight games at the end of the campaign helped Mick McCarthy's side maintain their hopes of promotion a little while longer. In the first of the play-off semi-finals against bitter local rivals West Brom, though, they allowed a 2-1 second-half lead to slip away and ended up losing both games. McCarthy's post match record was brief and to the point.

"Obviously, he was gutted," says Keogh. "He's an honest man, he just came in and said, 'listen, you've had a great season and you've been brilliant - you just weren't good enough on the night'.

"Which was true. We had our chance in the first leg. We played all the football but we still lost.

"Still," he continues, "we've had a great season and it increased our sense of expectation for the next. The club's massive. Since Mick's taken over we've pushed for the Premiership and that's where we want to be and hopefully we'll be there soon."

Before then he may be a senior international, following in the footsteps of his boyhood hero - 26-year-old Robbie Keane who, Keogh says, "I've loved watching since he was 18 and coming through at Wolves."

Along with the likes of Anthony Stokes, Shane Long, Daryl Murphy and, eh, Lapira, these few days in America represent an extended audition to either partner or stand in for the Tottenham striker in the event that injury or suspension forces Staunton to call on his reserves over the course of the autumn.

Tomorrow night we'll get our first indication of whether he can perform on cue when thrust onto even the most peripheral of international stages.

Republic of Ireland v Ecuador Venue: Giants Stadium Kick-off: Thursday, 1am On TV: RTÉ Two.