Ewood all clear

But the Blackburn Rovers boss still has a nagging concern over midfield man Lee Carsley after keeper Alan Kelly admitted many of the Republic of Ireland players were "drained" by their efforts in three games over the past eight days.

Kidd believes he now has cover and balance in all areas of his squad to cater for most contingencies.

Midfield, however, remains distinctly vulnerable at the moment.

Carsley has had to carry a major burden through pre-season and the start of the League campaign as the only senior player regularly available in that position.

And Kidd admits: "Overall things are looking healthier. We are getting there and that's very pleasing. But Lee does need a break in football terms.

"I wanted to give him one in pre-season but couldn't."

Carsley had to play a tougher 90 minutes than expected in the Republic's anxious 3-2 win in Malta last night to leave them with a great chance of qualifying for Euro 2000. He has featured in all three recent games and will need a rest before the Tranmere game.

Once again, Kelly was the Irish hero in his third game in eight days.

The keeper, likely to be on the bench on Saturday, saved the day in the dying minutes with two great stops.

Kelly said: "I feared another 92nd or 93rd minute blow just like the one in Croatia last Saturday. We were lucky to get away with it because so many of the lads were just so drained by three international matches in eight days.

"It shouldn't really happen but such have been the political problems in this group that we've had to play all these games back-to-back.

"All we know now is that we've got to do better in Macedonia or we'll have similar problems.

"I played in that game two years ago when they beat us in a World Cup qualifier and it was one of our worst moments. We don't want that again."

Manager Mick McCarthy said: "We were poor but it was tiredness that played a big part. We scored two good goals and were in charge but then we just ran out of legs and ran out of steam."

Robbie Keane, Gary Breen, and Steve Staunton scored for the Irish with Damien Duff being used as a substitute but Jeff Kenna not featuring.

Keith Gillespie went on as a second half substitute for Northern Ireland, who were already 4-0 down - the final score -in Germany and face huge problems.

"I think it's going to be a long job to get things right," said Lawrie McMenemy. "We have a long road to go down.

"Northern Ireland has just one-and-a-half million people and we're very short of players." The previous evening Damien Johnson starred for the under-21s. Christian Dailly and Callum Davidson both played a full 90 minutes for Scotland in their 0-0 draw in Estonia last night.

Kevin Gallacher remained on the bench but the Scots now have an excellent chance of qualifying. They face Bosnia at Ibrox next month knowing victory will assure them of a play-off spot for Euro 2000.

Forward Don Hutchison, however, will miss that game after picking up another yellow card and it could lead to a recall for Gallacher.

Rovers fans wishing to pass on items for 'dressing up' the stadium with flags and banners are welcome to do so. The Supporters' Forum need any contributions by 12 noon on Saturday. Safety officer Mel Highmore said: "We started this at the beginning of the season and it seems to be working well. Obviously we don't want any flagpoles and, if banners are very large, people should contact us first. If necessary, we can store any flags or banners at Ewood to be used at all home games."

The Supporters' Association are holding a general knowledge quiz night in the Millennium Lounge tonight (8pm). Entry is £5 per team, maximum of four per team.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.