Georges Leekens, the Belgium manager, yesterday counselled his team's supporters against the folly of presumption in the return leg of the World Cup play-off against the Republic of Ireland in Brussels in 10 days' time. Speaking in Brussels, Leekens said there was a danger of the Belgian public understating the size of the task ahead after last week's 1-1 draw at Lansdowne Road.

"For the first time since I became manager eight games ago, we are the favourites and that is going to mean added pressure for everybody," he said. "My job is to keep the pressure off my players as much as possible, but that is now very difficult because of what happened in the game in Dublin.

"Every Belgian person I meet expects us to qualify for the World Cup finals simply because we didn't lose the first match. But I have to tell them that this game is different.

"For example, Ireland's record shows that they have played better away from home in this competition. They didn't play well in Dublin last week, but I expect that they will be a lot more dangerous in the second game.

"Remember on the last occasion they played in Brussels, in 1986, they drew 2-2. If that happens again we're out and they're going to France next summer.

"I must say that I believe Belgium will win. But I also have a lot of respect for the Irish. It was a big surprise for us that they didn't create more problems after scoring so early in Dublin. I think they will be more positive in the second game."

Leekens, who names his squad next Sunday, has an obvious problem in his choice of team - whether to keep faith with what he calls his emergency side or break it up to facilitate the return of more established players.

Significantly, the only big-name absentee from the Dublin game he chose to mention at a press briefing yesterday was Luis Oliveira, the Fiorentina striker who is once more available to him after serving a suspension.

He made no mention of Enzo Scifo who ended a long absence from Anderlecht's team when he returned in an unaccustomed sweeping role in last Saturday's 22 draw with Ghent. Scifo, by all accounts, looked less than convincing in his new posting and the speculation is that he will return to the more familiar surrounds of midfield for this evening's UEFA Cup return meeting with the German club Schalke 04.

Scifo's hopes of reclaiming his place for next week's international game seem to be slim. The climb back to favour could also be steep for Lorenzo Staelans whose replacement, Mike Verstraeten, made life so difficult for Tony Cascarino in the first game.

David Connolly, who is likely to be left out of Feyenoord's starting line up because of a hamstring injury for their return Champions' League game this evening against Manchester United, will be named today in Mick McCarthy's preliminary squad.

Connolly played for Feyenoord at the weekend and McCarthy said he had heard nothing to indicate that the striker is struggling to beat the dealine for the Brussels fixture.

Apart from the return of David Kelly, the Tranmere player who missed the first game because of an ankle problem, the squad is unlikely to show any significant difference from that which assembled in Dublin last week.

The last of the 9,000 tickets which have been made available to Irish supporters in the recentlyrenovated King Baudouin Stadium are expected to be delivered today. The FAI's ticket office has been working at full stretch over the last week to ensure that the match tickets are delivered to fans in good time, but Bernard O'Byrne, the chief executive, said he regretted that it had not been possible to satisfy the demand in full.

O'Byrne confirmed that the FAI will be sending its own team of six security personnel to liase with the Belgian authorities on the arrangements for match day. This, he stressed, was normal procedure on those occasions when there was a big contingent of travelling supporters.