SOCCER/Republic of Ireland v The Netherlands: Ian Harte has become the latest player to pull out of tomorrow's friendly international against The Netherlands. The Levante left back skipped the squad's afternoon training session to receive treatment for what Steve Staunton said was a minor knee problem.

Harte's withdrawal yesterday deprives the Republic of Ireland manager of yet another established player and leaves him with another gap to fill at the back, where there is a distinct shortage of experienced cover.

Harte, at least, should be available for the trip to Germany for Ireland's opening European Championship qualifier in a couple of weeks.

The same, Staunton suggested, might not be the case for Richard Dunne, who the manager suggested is unlikely to play a game for his club before the match in Stuttgart.

Asked about the two senior outfield players to have withdrawn from this week's game over the weekend, Staunton observed that "they (Robbie Keane and Dunne) have both had scans. We're looking at a week to 10 days for Robbie and a little bit longer for Richard."

When pressed on whether this timescale threatened to rule the Manchester City centre-half out of the game, Staunton maintained he could not make a call on the matter yet.

"I don't know," he said, "because he's getting treatment at his club. But what's certain is that if you try to rush your way back from a muscle problem, like Stephen Ireland did, it can just mean that you end up being out for longer. There's no cheating with muscle problems, so we'll hope he's okay. but we'll be careful to give it as long as it needs for him to be right."

Damien Duff and Steve Finnan took limited parts in yesterday's run-out. Apparently the Newcastle United winger is tired and the Liverpool right back was being rested after playing a prominent part in his club's defeat of Chelsea in Cardiff.

The pair watched the latter part of the session from the dug-out in Malahide, while 17 players, including newcomer Daryl Murphy, battled their way through a lively practice game.

Staunton said that with 19 players available for the game, tomorrow night he would not be calling in anyone else. He has, he observed, enough bodies to start the game and fill the bench, and he joked that nobody who has pulled out would have started in any case.

Murphy's arrival has at least served to broaden his options up front, but the real battle for the striking berths would appear to be a three-way affair between Kevin Doyle, Stephen Elliott and Clinton Morrison. Assuming Staunton opts to start with two up front, one is set to be disappointed.

Before training, Morrison admitted his impact at club level over the last couple of weeks has been affected by an injury carried over from last season, but the 27-year-old was boosted by his late match-winning goal against Leeds.

"I haven't been starting games because I wasn't fully fit," said Morrison, "but the gaffer (Peter Taylor) shouted down to me it's going to be your day out there, go on and score the winner . . . so I did.

"Now I'm over here I'll have a word with Stan and see whether I'm going to get in. I hope so, because I need minutes under my belt, even another 45 or 60 minutes of football would be a big help to me right now."

The question of who will captain the team should be resolved at this afternoon's press conference when the skipper traditionally joins the manager to talk about the game. Steve Finnan, Andy O'Brien, Steve Carr and Damien Duff are among the options, but Kevin Kilbane appeared to be emerging as the favourite to be given the armband.

The Dutch, meanwhile, have had problems of their own, with manager Marco van Basten obliged to cancel training yesterday because of heavy rain and to replace Ajax midfielder Wesley Sneijder with Theo Janssen of Vitesse Arnhem.

Like Staunton, Van Basten is without several established stars, but unlike his Irish counterpart, the Dutch coach appears to have made a conscious decision to go with a young squad.

A couple of players have been omitted because they are suspended for The Netherlands' opening European Championship game in Luxembourg, but several others, most notably Ruud van Nistelrooy and Mark van Bommel, have simply been jettisoned.

The result is that after veteran goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, the most experienced in the squad that are due to train at Lansdowne Road today is Rafael van der Vaart of Hamburg, a 23-year-old with just short of 40 international caps.