PREVIEW: Monday's remarks regarding his loyalty to the players who have been with him all along the road to these World Cup finals may not have done much for them.

However, the fact that the next time he sits down to make a list of his players, Mick McCarthy will be drawing up Ireland's travelling party for the World Cup can hardly have been lost on Andy O'Brien, Colin Healy or Rory Delap, all of whom have been called back for a final audition prior to the team taking the game's greatest stage.

McCarthy, in fact, makes seven changes for this evening's game against the United States to the side that so comfortably got the better of the Danes last month.

With other managers, the sweeping alterations might be mistaken for 11th-hour uncertainty, but not with the Irish boss who, it seems, is so sure of his options these days that he has taken to squad rotation with a gusto rarely seen even at the well-heeled end of the Premiership.

Injuries may have played their part in the selection process this time around, for Richard Dunne has returned to England with a hamstring problem while a groin strain suffered by Jason McAteer has all but ruled him out too. And then there is the matter of ensuring that players with promotion, relegation or Champions League places to fight over back at their clubs are returned in good shape for the crucial weekend league programme.

"There's a lot of them," remarked McCarthy yesterday, "who probably have more important things on their minds right now than this friendly."

The Americans, however, are likely to have the undivided attention of Delap and Healy, while O'Brien, after hearing of his inclusion, sounded like a man well capable of setting aside Newcastle's pursuit of a Champions League place for this evening at least. Of the three, O'Brien may be closest to playing his way on to the plane.

Tonight, he gets only his second start in a senior international, but his progress over the past 12 months has been such that he is currently McCarthy's highest achieving central defender in England and, Phil Babb aside, the only one likely to be playing amongst Europe's elite next season.

Asked yesterday whether there might be room in his plans for a fifth centre half, McCarthy said that yes, with Steve Staunton providing cover for Ian Harte at left back, there might well. Even if it's not the current plan, though, another impressive performance this evening might make the 22-year-old difficult to leave behind.

The news that Healy is likely to play for the 90 minutes, initially alongside Mark Kinsella and later with Matt Holland, gives the Cork man an equally important opportunity to re-inforce the impression he has made on his last two appearances.

Many will feel that he has already done enough to merit inclusion, probably at the expense of Lee Carsley, whose contribution during the qualification campaign was fairly peripheral.

But McCarthy has strongly hinted that Carsley needs only to prove his fitness in order to travel, and that leaves Healy and Delap attempting to position themselves well in a lengthening queue for two or maybe three vacancies in the final squad.

The four others who return this evening have no such worries about their places in the final 23-man squad. Indeed Shay Given, Kevin Kilbane and Steve Finnan all look certain to be regular starters in the group games, while it would be no great surprise if McCarthy opts to go with tonight's skipper, Gary Breen, as well.

Something else that will give the line-up a taste of Japan will be the return of Damien Duff to the Irish attack following his dazzling display out on the wing against the Danes.

McCarthy paid tribute to Duff's contribution that night again yesterday, but added that, "I still reckon that if he'd played against us when I was playing, our right back would have been better able to cope with him out there than I would have been with him running through the centre."

He went on to mention the "terrific chemistry" that has developed between Duff and Robbie Keane. "They have a wonderful understanding, and when they play together they find angles for each other, create chances for each other all the time."

They and the rest of the team might, he added, have their work cut out against an American side that McCarthy feels may be more competitive than either the Russians or Danes. "I think it might be a harder game," he said. "The Americans have come a long way, they're better organised now and have players playing at a higher level.

"There's a few of them playing in Europe who I reckon would fancy going back to their clubs having claimed our scalps.

"But having said that, I do think that our performances against the Russians and Danes were good, we overpowered and outplayed them rather than them simply laying down and dying."

More of the same and his task over the next couple of weeks will be made that little bit easier, even if one or two of tonight's participants may still end up being disappointed.