Mick McCarthy has defined his priorities for this evening's World Cup qualifying game against the Netherlands at Amsterdam with an unexpected call-up for Blackburn's Jason McAteer.

In a significant decision, the Republic of Ireland manager has chosen to fill the right wing vacancy created by Mark Kennedy's absence with McAteer's attacking qualities rather than Gary Kelly's proven record in defence.

Steve Carr of Tottenham keeps the right back position after a sequence of fine performances last season, with Ian Harte returning for his first competitive start in two years, ahead of Steve Staunton, at left back.

With Roy Keane doing enough to convince McCarthy that he is fit to captain the side after a recent back problem, the rest of the team is in line with expectations as the Irish go in search of their first win against the Dutch in a competitive game in 20 years.

It was relatively late last evening when the Ireland manager decided to go public with his team to facilitate the thousands of supporters assembled here and others preparing to make the journey.

Many will be surprised to discover that McAteer, whose career was becalmed after his move from Liverpool to Blackburn, is given the chance to prove that he retains enough of his old skill to make a telling impact. McCarthy's selection suggests that he believes the best way of deflecting the expected onslaught by the Dutch is to have a go at a defence weakened by the absence of the Manchester United's Jaap Stam.

Whether that belief is justified by the result remains to be seen, but the manager will at least have earned the respect of those who rail against ultra-defensive formations and prefer the bold approach.

It may still be naive to suggest that the Irish are set to take the game to the opposition, but with McAteer and Kevin Kilbane given licence to attack down the flanks the expectation is that the front men, Niall Quinn and Robbie Keane, will now be involved in more of the action.

At the other end, Patrick Kluivert has been confirmed as being certain to lead the home attack. With Philip Cocu playing immediately behind him, that spells trouble for the visitors and while Luis van Gaal will not confirm his much-changed formation until shortly before the kick-off, the likelihood is that it will contain just one newcomer to international football in the PSV Eindhoven midfielder Wilfred Bouma.

It is, by any standard, an appealing fixture, with the Dutch hoping that they don't drop too far off the level of their Euro 2000 performances and the Irish striving to improve significantly on their most recent displays.

Judged purely on the evidence of the European Championship, there is a significant gap between the sides. Thankfully, however, circumstances have contrived to close it: the withdrawals from the home team inject an added element of uncertainty into van Gaal's first game in charge.

The missing players and the pressures of having to live with the hopes generated by some swashbuckling performances in the summer burden the new man with pressures he'd rather have done without.

McCarthy acknowledged the difficulties faced by his opposite number when he said: "A lot of people will feel happier that players like Davids, Stam, Zenden and Overmars are missing from the Dutch side."

Even if the Republic of Ireland manager has not had to contend with anything approaching the same amount of injury problems as his Dutch counterpart, he must still be troubled by the prospect of going into battle without his most consistent defender, Kenny Cunningham.

And those fears are multiplied by the fact that Richard Dunne, for all his emerging talent, still looked some way short of the finished product during the end-of-season programme.

To ensure that his inexperience is not exposed, it is essential that the midfield protection is never less than vigilant. And that imposes an even bigger responsibility than ever on Roy Keane and, to a lesser extent, Mark Kinsella.

Up front, Robbie Keane may have the chance to show that his expensive move to Inter Milan has expanded his self belief. Like Niall Quinn, he will cling to the hope that if the Dutch are frustrated sufficiently in the opening 30 minutes their levels of concentration at the back will drop.

Pedigree and recent performances still point to a Dutch win, but McCarthy will not be alone in hoping that if the rebuilt home team struggles to settle Ireland may still salvage the point which would represent an excellent start to their programme.