Werder Bremen midfielder Torsten Frings will captain Germany against Republic of Ireland on Saturday as his team look to guarantee their place in next summer's UEFA EURO 2008 tournament.

Frings only returned from a pre-season knee injury ten days ago, but will wear the captain's armband in Dublin with a win set to guarantee Germany their place at the Austria and Switzerland event next summer.

The 30-year-old will win his 69th cap at Croke Park on Saturday with German coach Joachim Low urging his team to push for three points. With the experienced trio of captain Michael Ballack, midfielder Bernd Schneider and striker Miroslav Klose out with injuries, Frings will lead the side.

"Torsten has missed a lot of football, but he has worked hard in practice and he is really enjoying himself in training, he is very important to us," said Low.

Frings will be in midfield alongside Bayern Munich's Bastian Schweinsteiger with Bremen team-mate Clemens Fritz and Real Betis' David Odonkor fighting for the other place in the starting team.

Low said he has not decided who will partner Schalke 04's Kevin Kuranyi up front, with Germany's player of the year Mario Gomez and Lukas Podolski in contention with first-choice Klose out with a knee injury.

And Jens Lehmann has been confirmed as Loew's preferred choice as goalkeeper, despite not having played since the 2-0 win over Wales in Cardiff more than a month ago and losing his place in Arsenal's first-team.

"Jens is our number one," said Low. "I have no reason to question it and he will be back in the Arsenal team soon."

And it is experienced players like Lehmann, who will win his 49th cap against Ireland, who Low says have given Germany a harder mental edge. "For the moment we are strong, but we have to maintain that," concluded the 47-year-old tactician.