It is believed O'Neill will make a decision over Christmas

It is believed O'Neill will make a decision over Christmas. Boyce refused to discuss the possible candidates and instead would only comment on the timetable for the appointment. He said: "It had been hoped that an appointment would be made before Christmas. That has not been possible and now it is my hope that we will be able to call a meeting of the international committee for the first week of January. Jim Boyce, the Irish Football Association president, hopes to be able to call a meeting of the international committee in the first week of the New Year at which Lawrie McMenemy's successor will be chosen. The IFA had hoped to have their man before Christmas and it is understood they are still waiting for Martin O'Neill, the Leicester manager, to rule himself out. However, Celtic made a firm case for the player's credentials stressing he is now established in the Brazilian squad. Northern Ireland aim to appoint their new manager in early January.

He said: "From Celtic's perspective, we are delighted to be bringing a player of Rafael's quality to Celtic and we are sure that he will not only enhance the Celtic squad but also Scottish football as a whole." An independent panel, which met in Glasgow yesterday, had been expected to finalise their verdict over the next 48 hours once it had been approved by Margaret Hodge, the junior Education minister. However, a positive verdict was delivered yesterday morning meaning Rafael will be able to be paraded as a Celtic player after the Scottish Premier League's winter break, which the Glasgow club will spend in Portugal. The case for a work permit was undermined by Rafael's failure to have played in 75 per cent of his country's internationals during the past two years. Dalglish, Celtic's Director of Football Operations, was welcoming the Department for Education and Employment's decision to grant the 23-year-old defender a three-year work permit. Dalglish, Celtic's Director of Football Operations, was welcoming the Department for Education and Employment's decision to grant the 23-year-old defender a three-year work permit. That means Rafael can join the Parkhead club in the New Year having already agreed a four-and-a-half-year contract with Celtic, who will pay Gremio £4.8m for his services. The news is a coup for Celtic, but Dalglish was keen to stress today that the Scottish Premier League's status will be boosted by the signing. Kenny Dalglish predicted yesterday that the whole of Scottish football will benefit from Celtic's signing of the Brazilian international Rafael Felipe Scheidt.

Substitutes not used: J Chambers, A Chambers, Morris (gk). Referee: R Styles (Waterlooville). Kenny Dalglish predicted yesterday that the whole of Scottish football will benefit from Celtic's signing of the Brazilian international Rafael Felipe Scheidt. True to what was going on around him, he swung his foot and missed the ball completely. Blackburn Rovers (4-4-2): Kelly; Kenna, Taylor, Dailly, Davidson; McAteer (Johnson, 117), Frandsen, Carsley, Duff; Ward, Blake (Ostenstad, 117). Substitutes not used: Broomes, Harkness, Fettis (gk). West Bromwich Albion (4-4-2): Miller; Gabbidon, Raven, Carbon, Van Blerk; De Freitas (McDermott, 90), Sneekes, Oliver, Angel; Evans (Richards, 117), Hughes. McAteer crossed from the right and Duff arrived at the far post to put the ball back to where the West Bromwich goalkeeper had come from. Somehow he changed direction and palmed the header away. Callum Davidson reinforced the home attack three minutes later to crash a volley narrowly wide from Blake's knock-down, while at the other end Adam Oliver was similarly close with a shot from the edge of the area that beat Kelly but also the post. The ability to squander chances even spread to Albion's normally reliable striker, Lee Hughes, who was presented with a ripe chance after a rebound. Matt Carbon, subscribing too deeply to the season of giving, made a hash of a header and Blake was in the clear.

The former Bolton Wanderers striker raced through but the opportunity fell to his weaker right foot and it was blocked by Alan Miller's dive. Half-time brought no change to the shape of the game, but it did herald an outstanding save from Miller after 49 minutes. Within four minutes Nathan Blake had looped a header just over and fired narrowly wide and he was just at the front of a line of one-way traffic that included shots from Per Frandsen, Ashley Ward and Damien Duff. West Bromwich had barely crossed the halfway line before Fabian De Freitas interrupted the flow after 16 minutes with a shot that had Alan Kelly scampering across his line to save. This was just a temporary blip in the general trend of Blackburn possession but it nevertheless had a sobering effect on the home side, who became less cavalier as a consequence and there was a noticeable improvement by the visitors. Even so, Blackburn had a gilt-edged opportunity seconds before the interval. It looked like a patched-up set of Baggies who took the field and the opening minutes did little to dispel that impression. Liverpool at Anfield await in the fourth round. Blackburn would be kicking themselves most for failing to kill off their opponents in normal time because they had a near monopoly of the chances but at least they had achieved their object of getting a crowd of five figures. In a week of disappointing Cup gates, 11,766 was highly satisfactory even if it was 7,000 below average. Things have been bleak at Ewood Park in recent times but Blackburn appeared as a sea of tranquillity compared to their opponents who had lost their chairman, Tony Hale, and an influential player, Kevin Kilbane, in the previous week. Their manager, Brian Little, was hardly the personification of contentment either, his most pertinent comment being: "I just want someone to be honest with me after what has happened in the last few months". A look at the resources available to him was unlikely to soothe Little either as he had three players suspended and several others suffering from flu. Substitutes not used: Given (gk), Glass. Tottenham Hotspur (3-5-2): Walker; Perry Vega, Campbell; Young (Fox, 22, Armstrong, 71), Sherwood, Nielsen, Clemence, Taricco; Ginola (Dominguez, 75), Iversen.