Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy today suffered the latest blow to his World Cup hopes after Leeds left-back Ian Harte limped out of today's goalless draw at West Ham.
Harte was substituted in the 79th minute following a collision with Hammers' skipper Paulo di Canio which left him requiring nine stitches in an injury to his left ankle. Leeds boss David O'Leary confirmed Harte is out of the game: "Ian has had about nine stitches in his ankle so will not be playing for Ireland next week."
It means McCarthy is now without his first-choice back four for the vital World Cup qualifier against Holland in Dublin next Saturday.
With Gary Breen, Kenny Cunningham and Stephen Carr already on the sidelines, McCarthy is left with few defensive options for the crunch clash with the Dutch and will have to once again re-think his starting line-up.
He last week announced his intention to stick with the central defensive partnership of Steve Staunton and Richard Dunne, but he may now be tempted to switch Staunton back to his more familiar left-back berth and field the inexperienced Gary Doherty or Andy O'Brien at centre-back. Doherty's impressive start-of-season may make him favourite.
Another consequence of Harte's injury is that Staunton will surely have a greater say from set-pieces, and may well be made the team's penalty taker.