SOCCER:Despite the late equaliser conceded to Slovakia in Bratislava, Ireland are virtually assured of third seed status in the draw for the qualifying stages of the World Cup as a result of the weekend's European qualifying results.

The team's position in the provisional ranking list for the draw, which is calculated on the basis of group results in the preceding two campaigns, is now joint 22nd with Scotland going into tomorrow's round of matches and it would now take a highly unlikely combination of results for the Irish to finish the campaign other than as a third seed.

The Republic was a fourth seed when the draw was made for the current qualification tournament although this was in part because the number of groups was cut to just seven so as to yield 14 countries that could go forward, without the need for play-offs, to join the to host nations in Austria and Switzerland next summer.

For South Africa there will be nine groups and so even the 24th place ranking Ireland had two years ago would have meant a third place seeding this time around. As it is, Steve Staunton's side are slightly better placed having earned fractionally more points per game in this campaign to date (1.75) than they did in the last one (1.7). Their average with four matches still to play then, is 1.722.

Israel currently occupy 18th position and are therefore on course to be the lowest ranked of the second seeds but in order to match their current score of 1.944 points per game the Irish would have to take 11 points from the remaining matches.

Northern Ireland are best placed to threaten the Republic's position from below but even if they took maximum points they would need Steve Staunton's men to slip up between now and November.

With the Irish and Scots both firmly in the middle of the third tier of nations, indeed, it is highly probable that both will now finish the campaign there. That would mean the goal of a top two placing next time around will be a little more attainable although with the nine group winners qualifying automatically and the eight best runners-up going on to play-offs, actually qualifying will remain a tall order.

Still, the news will be welcome as Steve Staunton prepares to go into tomorrow's game without Stephen Ireland, who has returned home, Steve Finnan or Darren Potter, both of whom, the manager essentially conceded yesterday, have lost their battles to be fit.

"I haven't spoken to Liverpool or Stevie Finnan today but on Friday he wasn't going to start jogging until this morning, and if that's the case he has no chance," said the Louthman. "Mick [ McCarthy] told me he (Potter) is not even training this morning, so that rules him out," he added. "But we have enough there. We've got a 20-man squad."

The squad trained yesterday at Sparta Prague's training ground, the imposing if somewhat weather-beaten old Strahov stadium complex. Kevin Doyle was reported to have a slightly tight hamstring and Richard Dunne is said to be feeling the after-effects of a hefty collision on Saturday night but neither showed any ill effects as they played their way through the end of session game.

Both look certain to start again tomorrow night with midfield the most likely area for changes with one guaranteed due to the departure of Ireland. "I was going to change the team whether Stephen was here or not," remarked Staunton, "and everybody is high in my thoughts.

"That was a very sapping pitch on Saturday and you know that by the players, how they feel, the stiffness and the soreness so we'll freshen things up on Wednesday."

The game, he said, is a "cup final" for his side now although he then suggested there would be still some hope of qualification if a draw can be secured. "We knew we had to beat the Czechs because we knew that would put us in a strong position. The worst scenario (we can afford) is that we take the draw and then at least we will have two home games to try and rectify the situation."

If the points are to be shared then a draw involving four goals or more would be a better result for Irish as it would give Staunton's men the edge in terms of the head to head which will be the first criteria used to separate the side in the event that they finish level on points at the end of the campaign. A goalless or 1-1 draw would effectively put the Czechs an extra point ahead of the Republic in the group table as the former would mean that the away goal they scored in the tied Dublin game would count double while the latter would result in the matter reverting to goal difference, a measure on which the Czechs hold a comfortable advantage.