SOCCER: The calendar might suggest that it's summer in Dublin but weather reports from back home the past few days have only served to leave Steve Staunton a contented man, more than happy with his decision to take his squad to the Algarve for a touch of warm-weather training, where they awoke yesterday at their Estrela da Luz base to yet another cloudless sky.

Wear and tear from a lengthy club season has, however, caught up with two more of Staunton's players, Clinton Morrison (knee) and Alan Lee (hamstring), both of whom he ruled out of tomorrow's game against Chile, saying "they're not right, it's too much to ask".

The pair join Andy O'Brien, Alan Quinn, Paddy Kenny and Joey O'Brien on the injured list for the game at Lansdowne Road. Steve Finnan, though, trained yesterday, as did Damien Duff, and remains hopeful of being fit for the game.

"We wouldn't have been able to work had we been at home, but that's pure luck," said Staunton. "You're guaranteed better weather here and it's worked out well from that aspect. The lads would have been cooped up in a hotel in Dublin, unable to do anything with that weather.

"These few days are just about putting ideas back into the lads' heads. They know how to play the game, it's just one or two ideas we want to put into their heads that could give us an advantage going into a game. That's basically it, that's what this is all about."

Six of the squad, including Duff, took part in filming yesterday morning for an Eircom advertisement, in which they squared up to six children from home, brought to the Algarve as part of an Eircom promotion - cue gags along the line of "most of them look older than Terry Dixon".

Later in the afternoon the squad trained for in or around 90 minutes, before returning to base. Among the group was Andy Reid who, on his arrival in Portugal, was marked down as one of the Irish players uncertain about his club future.

He insists, however, there'll be nothing uncertain about his whereabouts next season.

"It surprises me how many people ask what I will be doing next season and where I will be. Why would I want to leave Spurs?" he said. "Unless a really good move came along, why would anyone leave a club like that with good young players and a good manager? It's an enjoyable place to be, as anyone who has been around the club will tell you, it's a friendly place and there is a good feeling around the club, there are some lovely people.

"And London is a fantastic place. I love going out to see gigs or shows. There is always something to do, and I don't mean going out and getting drunk. It can be such an amazing place.

"I love going out to the Irish Centre to see different gigs, I saw Christy Moore there, which was brilliant, and when my little girl Saoirse comes over from Ireland we go down to the West End to see a show. She's seven so I think I enjoy it more than she does."

Reid's involvement in Tottenham's ultimately unsuccessful pursuit of qualification for the Champions League last season was largely ruined by injury, but he dismisses any notion that he is no longer part of Martin Jol's plans.

"I didn't really trouble the manager when I was out, he had enough to worry about. I just got my head down and worked hard to get fit again."

"But I spoke to him later on and he told me what he wanted and needed from me. The one thing he told me was to stay wider rather than keep coming in, so you have to sacrifice parts of your game for the good of the team."

And what of Reid's 16-year-old clubmate, Dixon? "When he was called up it was the first time I had really heard about him, although Brian Kerr told me about him and asked me to keep an eye out for him. He has fitted in. I've been very impressed.

"I wouldn't want to compare him to Wayne Rooney but he has that air about him, he wants to play football and it doesn't matter how young you are, if you can play, you can play and he can. And he knows it. Obviously there has been a bit of hype but people need to give the lad a chance. He needs to be given space and time and we can't expect too much from him.

"For Terry, and all of us, enjoying football is the most important thing. I know if I don't feel comfortable I'm not going to perform, but if I'm in the right frame of mind I will enjoy it.

"It is something I have worked on, I'm very interested in the psychology of the game and I work with a sports psychologist, which is something the manager encourages.

"They encourage football to be played in the right way and enjoying it is really important to me. It's definitely one of the things I love about being at Spurs."