The first time Dominic Foley came across Robbie Keane, the pair had just arrived in England after signing for Wolves and found themselves in the same hotel together. They got on well but as soon as more permanent homes were sorted out they went their separate ways.

Over the months that followed there was little enough contact between the two young Irishmen. Foley, from Charleville in Cork, had turned down a couple of earlier offers from English clubs in order to stay on at home and finish his leaving certificate. Having finally made the move with a couple of offers from universities to fall back on, he was four years older than the Dubliner and so, while he joined up for training with the senior squad at the First Division club, Keane started his professional football life with the youths.

These days Foley recalls that, while he may not have seen much of Keane during that first season or two in England, he was never in any doubt about his younger compatriot's whereabouts.

"I never really saw him at that stage, but it seemed like every single time you asked somebody about how the youth team had gotten on, all of the reports back were about Robbie and how good he was," says the 24year old. Gradually Foley was overtaken by Keane in the pecking order at Wolves and so yesterday, when the younger man was asked about his earlier experiences of playing alongside his striking partner for this evening's game against Finland, he was enthusiastic about the reunion but admitted: "We didn't play that much together because Dominic tended to come on from the bench rather than start."

In fact, being relegated to substitute is a problem that Foley has had to get used to over the years. During four seasons at Molineux he started just four games in a Wolves jersey, one less than he managed during that same period while on loan to Watford and Notts County.

When Graham Taylor offered him a permanent move to Vicarage Road matters looked set to improve, but the bulk of last season was a struggle and it was only towards the end of the campaign that Foley got a half-decent opportunity to show what he was made of.

"I missed about three months completely because of hamstring and ankle injuries but then got a bit of a run in the side at the very end of the season. I scored in one of the games and it seems to have been then that I caught Mick's eye.

"I got called in for a couple of games here and then went on the trip to America where I started a couple of games and scored a couple of goals, which was fantastic for me. Now I'm getting to start a game at Lansdowne Road which is just a dream come through."

Foley realises that with Niall Quinn expected back after this evening's match he may have to wait some time yet to become a first choice with the Irish team. But with the big Sunderland striker nearing the end of his career and no obvious candidate to replace him on the horizon, there is everything to play for in games like this.

He concedes, though, that his more immediate problems are at club level where, despite having been fully fit since the summer, he has once again been spending the bulk of his Saturday afternoons on the sidelines.

"I've only started three so far this season which is disappointing, although I have come on in most of the rest. There are a lot of strikers at the club so I understand that it's a difficult situation for the manager, especially when the team is going so well, but at the same time I think that for me to be playing at my best I need to be getting first team football week in, week out and that's something I have to think about."

As it happens he has been thinking about it a good deal of late, for his contract is up at the end of the season and, having turned 24 during the summer, he would be entitled to a free transfer if he decided to move on. "The manager has told me that there's a new contract there for me," he says, "but I'm not sure I'm going to sign it. It's not that I don't want to stay but I think it's got to the stage where I have to look for somewhere I'm finally going to get first team football on a regular basis."

With that in mind Foley admits that he sees this evening's match as a chance to impress although, he says, "that's really the way it is every single time you are out there.

"Hopefully things like this can do me no harm. First and foremost I'll be looking to go out there and do well for the team but obviously it would be great on a personal level if I could pick up where I left off in America."

Whatever happens, he remains sure that there is plenty of time for him to make his mark on the game. He retains the confidence in his own ability that he first showed during his teenage years when, despite having trials at clubs like Manchester City and Liverpool, he opted to finish school.

"I think my parents had a lot to do with it because while some other lads that age were being told to grab the chance when they could in case it never came around again, mine never put me under any pressure at all.

"In my own mind I always felt that if I was good enough to be offered a YTS (Youth Training Scheme) by Man City at 16 then I'd be good enough to get something at 18 after I'd done the leaving. It's something I've never regretted because even as it was, heading over to England at 18, I found the first six months tough going."

Now he faces the prospect of taking another major gamble with his future. Having already asked Taylor if there is a possibility of leaving before the end of his contract or going out on loan and been refused on both counts, he knows that the rest of this season could be particularly miserable if the manager who has consistently said he rates him now takes umbrage at his decision to depart.

And yet Foley knows that the opportunity to establish himself as the third choice striker with the Republic of Ireland will not last forever. Close season tournaments in America and friendlies against the likes of Finland are important stepping stones, but so far the striker's only competitive experience came last month, when McCarthy brought him on against Estonia with the game already won.

Yesterday McCarthy said he had thought about throwing Foley into the opening World Cup qualifier in Amsterdam but had opted for David Connolly because he was playing his club football in Holland and might have felt he had something to prove to the local crowd.

By spring, when the Irish team resumes its World Cup qualifying campaign, McCarthy will want to have settled on his pecking order behind the pairing that did so well in the three group games to date. The options are not great but Rory Delap, for one, will have a start on Foley if he continues to play up front in a Premiership side. All the more reason why Foley will be looking to take his chances alongside Keane tonight.