McCarthy reverts to type

Russia v Republic of Ireland: Babb the lone surprise as boys of tomorrow make way for the men of the World Cup

Apart from the occasional unpredictable episode like being called every obscene name under the sun by his captain, or having two of his players arrested, the Republic of Ireland's manager, Mick McCarthy, has always taken the softly-softly approach to squad selection. Youngsters are brought in for friendly matches, with an eye to the future, then the seniors return when it really matters.

By and large, that is what has happened with the party of 22 named for Saturday's opening European Championship qualifying match against Russia in Moscow, the most difficult the Irish are likely to face in a group that also includes Switzerland, Georgia and Albania.

Promising debuts in last month's friendly against Finland have not earned Sunderland's Thomas Butler nor Arsenal's Graham Barrett a second chance, the headlines being stolen instead by a 31-year-old Londoner returning more than two years after his previous appearance.

Phil Babb's international career appeared to have come to an inglorious end when he was sent home with Mark Kennedy, the pair having been arrested for after-hours merriment before the squad left Dublin for the critical opening fixture of their World Cup qualifying campaign in Holland.

Richard Dunne unexpect-edly grasped the opportunity with one of his better international performances, and Babb was soon out of mind as well as out of sight with Sporting Lisbon. A return to England this summer with Sunderland has enabled him to impress Niall Quinn, now a player-coach, who was delighted to provide a favourable reference to McCarthy.

Babb has therefore leapt back ahead of the unreliable Dunne and, more surprisingly, Newcastle's Andy O'Brien, on the basis that both have been substitutes rather than starters for their clubs so far this season.

It seems harsh on O'Brien, especially as Manchester United's John O'Shea is included. A 35th cap for Babb will not, however, follow unless there are injuries. "I have still decided that my starting central defensive partnership against the Russians will be Kenny Cunningham and Gary Breen," the manager said.

"Phil Babb had two good years in Portugal with Sporting Lisbon and he has had a good start to the season. He will give us a bit of balance in case there are any problems on the left side of defence with Ian Harte. But you don't just leapfrog over players from a World Cup squad."

O'Shea, who performed well for United against Chelsea and came on for Rio Ferdinand in the European Cup tie against Zalaegerszeg last Tuesday, has one previous cap as a late substitute and is clearly one for the future. "I know Sir Alex Ferguson speaks very highly of him," McCarthy added. "He is a very good player and will get better with experience. The lad has all the attributes to be a top-class defender – he has height and he is comfortable on the ball."

The Irish are among the fortunate sides going into the new competition on the back of a successful World Cup. Hence McCarthy's contention that it is Russia who should be doing the worrying: "The game's at the right time for us."

For the Russians, it is much more of a new beginning under Valeri Gazzaev, who replaced the veteran coach Oleg Romantsev after the World Cup campaign. In a group from which they should have qualified, Romantsev's side failed to build on an opening 2-0 victory over Tunisia, losing to Japan and Belgium as Romantsev picked defensive teams, using the two most accomplished strikers as substitutes. That pair are Vladimir Beschastnykh, who caused some troublesome moments during Ireland's 2-0 victory in a friendly in February, and the bright young thing of Russian football, Dmitri Sychev.

Sychev, still a teenager, has been dubbed the Russian Michael Owen; so comparisons will be interesting when Spartak Moscow take on Liverpool in the Champions' League twice next month. Romantsev is still in charge at Spartak and Gazzaev will also double up, as his club CSKA Moscow continue their quest to deny the hitherto pre-eminent Spartak this year's national championship.

"They've made a lot of changes, bringing in younger players," said McCarthy. "That's why I am glad that Seamus McDonagh, one of my back-room staff, was able to watch them in their 1-1 draw with Sweden last week. We'll be making an intensive study of the videos."

To that end there is another important addition to the squad named on Thursday: the performance-analysis firm who worked successfully with the Irish at the World Cup – and have just added Tottenham to their portfolio of clubs – have been hired for the duration of thecampaign.