It's there in every conversation, every argument. It was there, naturally, when Steve Staunton announced his squad last week for Wednesday's qualifier against San Marino. And what it does when it's there is drag down the rest of the discussion and colour every other consideration.

Anthony Stokes has, over the past fortnight, provided the best news the game here has had in ages. Nobody in Scottish football history (or at least that part of it they keep records on) had ever scored hat-tricks in successive games before and God knows it's been a while since a relative unknown has suddenly raised a smile like that. And yet when Staunton came to talk about him and why he wasn't in the senior squad, his explanation needlessly killed off some of the enthusiasm that had abounded.

He could very easily and not unreasonably have said that calling up an 18-year-old on the strength of two games hardly makes a great deal of sense. He could have pointed out that the difference between potential (no matter how bright) and experience (no matter how pedestrian) is still significant. He could have listed any amount of Willo Floods and Barry Conlons who'd previously bubbled to the surface for a brief spell before heading below again and cautioned against getting too excited too quickly. But the main thrust of his explanation was couched in the light of the solemn situation he finds himself and his squad in.

"There is a bit of protection there for Anthony, " Staunton said. "He's still only 18 after all.

It would be easy to throw him in but San Marino is a game we have to win, it's the last game at Lansdowne Road so it'll be an emotional night and it mightn't be fair on the lad."

San Marino is a game we have to win. That's where the Cyprus defeat has brought the whole mess. Because implicit in the statement is the acceptance of the fact that there's a chance they might not. Might not win against San Marino. Truly we are living in desperate times.

The 5-2 in Nicosia is a scoreline Staunton and his players won't be able to escape for quite some time, probably until they qualify for something. Because what it means is that those watching them are no longer talking about perception when they judge them, they're talking about damning evidence. Those who had their suspicions about Staunton's managerial capacities before Cyprus had their minds made up for them that night.

Those who needed convincing of the desire and capabilities of the players came away even less assured than they were.

That's why neither the Czech Republic result nor what happens in the home and away games against San Marino (two wins from two assumed, that is) has any real impact.

It's all stained by the over-riding feeling of certainty that the Staunton era is going nowhere.

Paper and ink shouldn't need to be wasted stating that, actually, it's okay, everyone can come out from under the table because of course Ireland are going to win. This international week and the one coming in February exist in a twilight zone of uncertainty where the results against San Marino will only mean anything if they add up to dropped points and that's not going to happen. Ireland are, after all, playing a team that has given up 20 goals in their last two games. There shouldn't be a need to even mention the possibility of anything less than six points.

But that's the Cyprus effect for you.

It also brings about the situation where an initiative Staunton obviously feels is important slips in under the radar a little. There's an argument to be made that the significant match of the coming week shouldn't even be the one happening in Lansdowne road on Wednesday night but rather the one in Dalymount the night before when the B side play Scotland.

The resurrection of the B international is something Staunton wants to try out for size and see where it goes. There's little doubt that many of the squad will end up as answers to pub quiz questions . . . and particularly arcane ones at that . . . but it clearly saves on an awful lot of motorway miles and is as efficient a way as any of seeing players he wouldn't usually get around to. Pat Devlin's squad is notable for the amount of Granny Rule players in it, a follow through on Staunton's promise regarding that side of things that he made on his very first day in the job. Certainly nobody was saying too much about Lewis Emanuel or Lee Frecklington back in January. Whether they are or will be at all useful is another matter.

What they point to, though, is a further acknowledgement of Staunton's despair at the hand he's been dealt. He is fond of saying that you can't go out and buy players as an international manager and so clearly the B international is his way of trying to manufacture some. Even one would be nice.

For the time being, though, he'll get on with making do with what he has. So few and far between are the nailed-down spots on his best team that each game Ireland play right now is by its nature a chance for experimentation. Staunton will put out the strongest team he can but it would be a brave person indeed who could sit down today and say exactly who'd make that XI.

Shay Given will travel, despite not playing for Newcastle yesterday, but Wayne Henderson looks set to continue in goal. And if Richard Dunne, Kevin Kilbane, Steve Finnan, Stephen Carr, John O'Shea, Damien Duff and Robbie Keane all report for duty, they'll all be called upon. Kevin Doyle more than likely belongs to that group too, which leaves uncertainty at centre-half and in midfield, depending on where O'Shea is picked. There'll be those, undoubtedly, who'll say that he and Kilbane should not be picked at all but the chances of Staunton leaving two habitual Premiership starters on the bench while he complains of not having a deep playing pool are pretty much non-existent.

Paul McShane's ascension hasn't exactly gone to plan since he left Lansdowne with his father cradling his box of man-of-the-match crystal last month. The one-match suspension he went back to West Brom with coincided with them winning their next three games, scoring 10 goals and, crucially, conceding only one. He played in the next game . . . the 2-0 Carling Cup defeat by Arsenal . . . and reverted to the bench for the next three. So although his performance in the Czech game arguably warrants a start on Wednesday, Andy O'Brien's night in Nicosia laid bare for Staunton the perils of playing a defender who isn't getting game with his club. In which case, he may well go with O'Shea beside Dunne, Lee Carsley beside Kilbane and Andy Reid or Aiden McGeady on the right.

This game can't be a problem, though, regardless of who he chooses. There are easy games in international football. Just ask the Cypriots.

EURO 2008 QUALIFIER REPUBLIC OF IRELAND v SAN MARINO Wednesday, Lansdowne Road, 7.30 Live, RTE Two, Sky Sports 1, 7.00