A few years ago it would have been difficult to imagine National League clubs being put out because two of our underage sides were in competitive action within the space of a week or so.

However, over the past 10 days Cork City, St Patrick's Athletic and Waterford United have been among the clubs having to get along without first-team regulars because of Brian Kerr and Ian Evans's requirements while several others like Home Farm/Everton, Sligo and Shelbourne had squad members holed up in the Airport hotel.

Kerr's commitment to the National League, of course, had scarcely been in question but Evans, who will again field two locally-based players in his starting line-up against Malta this afternoon, has had to win the cynics over since arriving on the scene two and a half years ago. It's a process which he admits, while progressing, is not complete yet.

He reckons a get-together for players he and Kerr wished to keep an eye on a few months ago - which, at the time, seemed to highlight the level of suspicion with which he was viewed here - may in retrospect have been a turning point for the Welshman.

At the time both men were disappointed that some clubs saw fit to keep their players away from the squad session (others packed along just about everybody who still had problems getting served in a pub of a Saturday night) but having been impressed with Brian Barry Murphy's performance that weekend and taken with Cobh's Willie Byrne, Evans has since started to notice an improvement in his relations with several National League managers since.

"Maybe afterwards a few people began to think that they'd deprived one or two of their players of an opportunity," says Evans. "But over the last couple of months things have certainly been a bit better.

"Now I get the odd call from managers here, maybe recommending one of their lads to me or checking whether I intend to use someone for an upcoming game. It's good that they feel comfortable about getting on the phone to me because I certainly feel comfortable talking to them about whatever's happening."

Evans concedes that he still doesn't get along to all that many domestic games here but a "backscratching" arrangement with Kerr helps to keep him informed on how potential caps are getting along.

On Sunday he did get along to see the game at Tolka Park between St Patrick's Athletic and Shelbourne which turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. "That didn't matter, though, I don't really go to watch games, I go to watch individuals and Keith Doyle impressed me in that game, he showed that he could compete and play a bit, as did Trevor Molloy."

While Doyle is fresh out of the under-18s, Molloy could be forgiven for feeling a little frustrated by his exclusion from Evans's squad just now. He is currently producing his best football since arriving at Richmond Park in the aftermath of the World Championships in Malaysia where he was Ireland's top scorer and has scored in each of his last three outings for his club.

Evans, however, feels that he is well fixed for players of precisely Molloy's type in the shape of Daryl Clare and Neale Fenn, remarking simply that the St Patrick's striker is currently third in the queue for the one spot in the team.

"I haven't got Neale this time," he says, "and if I hadn't had Daryl then Trevor would have been included in the squad but really they're very similar players, the three of them, and my own preference is for the other lads over him."

None of which will be much comfort for Molloy, not right now at least. He, as anybody else in his position would, will probably feel that the fact that he is performing so well in the National League should count for at least as much as, in the case of Fenn, a player across the water having to plug away in the reserves of a Premiership outfit.

And yet the fact that Evans is able to stand over his decision is a sure sign of progress. Whether the Welshman is right or wrong is open to question but at least it's a question he has an opinion on. Anybody who sat in on his predecessor's chats about squad selections will have a pretty good idea what the reaction might have been then to the suggestion that a locally-based player was getting a bit of raw deal.