Soccer: Cyprus coach Angelos Anastasiades has warned his players they need to cut out the errors that have blighted their World Cup campaign to date.

The Cypriots arrived in Dublin ahead of tomorrow night's qualifier against the Republic of Ireland having taken only one point from their first two games against Italy and Georgia.

But having succumbed to the world champions only in injury time and then seen two points wrenched from their grasp in Tbilisi on Saturday, they know they cannot afford to fall any further off the pace in Group Eight.

For Anastasiades, that means eradicating the individual errors that have cost his side so dearly.

He said: "We should have had six points the way we have played. It could have been zero points or two points, but we have got one.

"God will decide what we get, and he is a very good person.

"But we cannot afford any mistakes tomorrow night because that would be very costly. They have been costly in the last two games against Italy and Georgia.

"But I believe in my players and I believe in their capabilities, and if we play to the maximum of our capabilities, we can control this game and get the result we want."

However, Anastasiades has a series of selection problems that could yet dictate
the side he is able to field at Croke Park.

Midfielder Constantinos Charalambides is suspended after collecting a second yellow of the competition in Georgia, while Michael Chrysostomos is out with a hip injury.

There are also fitness doubts over midfielder Marios Nikolaou, who has a foot problem, and strikers Michael Constantinou, with knee and ankle problems, and Yiasoumis Yiasoumi, who has a calf strain, but all three could yet make it.
 
Anastasiades said: "We are coming back from a very difficult game against Georgia on Saturday and we are missing some players, one through injury and another through suspension.

"We have three players who we will have to see if they are much fitter tomorrow after training."

Cyprus, of course, have had something of an Indian sign over Ireland in recent years, having beaten them 5-2 in Nicosia two years ago and drawn 1-1 in Dublin 12 months later to wreck the Republic's European Championship qualifying campaign.

However, neither Anastasiades nor skipper Ioannis Okkas are reading too much into the last two meetings between the countries, with Giovanni Trapattoni having made a major impact since he replaced Steve Staunton at the helm.

The Cyprus manager said: "There is no comparison between this team and the team we faced last year and the year before, both in Cyprus and in Ireland.

"They have a new coach, a world-class coach, and his achievements are well known.

"When I was a player, he was one of the best coaches in the world. I admire him and respect him.

"It is definitely going to be a very difficult game for us. Ireland is such a big team with lots of very good players, so it doesn't matter if one or two are missing.

"Cyprus is a smaller country with fewer quality players. If we miss a player or two, it makes a huge difference."

Okkas, too, is expecting a hard-fought contest, but knows the time has come for his team to make their move.

He said: "We know our opponents well and their team consists of world-class players.

"What we are going to try to do is what we did last year when we drew here, even though we should have won, and what we did against Georgia in Tbilisi.

"We have to play well and not only play well, but get a result as well.

"We respect the Irish team, but at the same time, we need to start piling up the points."