FORMER Ireland boss Brian Kerr feels that a French mistake is Ireland's best chance to get the goal they need in Paris tomorrow to rescue their World Cup hopes.

Kerr was, of course, in charge of Ireland against France in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers and he also faced up to the French as manager of the Faroe Islands in the group stage of this World Cup qualification, so he knows how hard it is to score against, let alone beat, them.

"Opportunities will come for Ireland from a mistake by one of the French centre-backs, be that Gallas and Ebidal if he plays instead of Abidal," quipped Kerr.

"Abidal made a very bad error late in the (Dublin) game, which gave the opportunity for Leon Best to set up Robbie Keane, and he created a chance for Glenn Whelan, who had his shot saved by (Hugo) Lloris. That was one mistake, Gallas made one in the first half when he allowed the ball to go over his head.

"There will be occasional opportunities there, we know they have had weaknesses from set pieces in the group, but that wasn't exposed on Saturday as they didn't give away too many set pieces. They dealt well with the corner kicks. They will try to prevent that by not giving away free kicks in wide positions.

"We will have opportunities on the break as (Patrice) Evra and (Bacary) Sagna push forward. They do leave themselves a bit open at the back, so that gives you a chance. But the supply of the ball on the ground needs to be better to give the front two a chance to do something," added Kerr, who insisted Ireland need to improve ball retention.

"I do feel that France have another tempo, if not another gear, that they can play at. We can't keep giving the ball away. We need to keep possession for periods of the game to give the defenders some respite as they are going to be under more pressure than they were on Saturday night."

Kerr also recalled his Irish side's superb display in gaining a 0-0 draw against the French in the Stade de France in 2004.

"It was a great night and the supporters played their part, they were fantastic. But we had a strong team as well, the scoreline didn't do the performance justice, I think everyone felt that we deserved to win the game.

"The situation we are in now, we have to win the game, a draw won't be good enough. It's going to be very tough and I think our best chance is to not open up too much," added the Faroe boss.

- Aidan Fitzmaurice