Stephen Kelly won the prize for understatement. "I suppose it's a bit more pressure than what I expected but that's football," he said, as he reflected upon a remarkable elevation for the Republic of Ireland's friendly against the World Cup semi-finalists Uruguay at the Aviva Stadium.

The Fulham utility defender has not played a first-team match of any description since 17 November, when he featured in his country's 2-1 friendly defeat by Norway in Dublin. Moreover, the 27-year-old can barely remember the last time that he started a game in central defence.

Against a Uruguay team missing the injured Luis Suárez but still packing plenty of punch, Kelly will start in central defence. And, for the first time, he will lead out his country as captain.

"I was fortunate enough to get the band [in the friendly] against South Africa [in September 2009] when Kevin Doyle went off but the team that I captained properly was the under-21s," Kelly said. "I did that for a couple of campaigns. For me, that was a great honour, a huge privilege, but to do it now at senior level surpasses that. It's what you dream of when you're a kid."

Kelly started the season in the Fulham team at left-back and he has also played at right-back, the position where he professes himself to be most comfortable. But in the centre? "It's been a long time," he said. " I seem to end up at centre-back towards the end of games, that's what happened against Norway after I started at right-back, but I don't think I've started a game at centre-back for a couple of years."

Kelly suffered an ankle injury at Christmas, which ruled him out for four weeks, but it has been the combination of Chris Baird, John Pantsil and Carlos Salcido that has served to frustrate him. He has been an unused substitute more times than he cares to mention this year.

Yet opportunity knocks on the international stage, as it does for a host of players against Uruguay in the absence of more experienced regulars. Hopes are the highest for James McCarthy, who makes his full Ireland debut in the role behind the striker in a 4-4-1-1 formation but Kelly knows that a positive performance would see him press his claim for the Euro 2012 qualifier away to Macedonia on 4 June.

There will be a vacancy at the back as Richard Dunne is suspended. "It's an opportunity to show the boss what I can do, playing at centre-back," Kelly said. "It will be a very tough game but it's a good opportunity for a lot of the lads to make an impression. Everybody will have that on their minds when they go out."

The feeling persists however that Giovanni Trapattoni's formation and preferred personnel are set in stone for the meaningful matches. It has emerged that Doyle expects to be fit for the trip to Skopje and if he is, Trapattoni will almost certainly pair him up front with the captain Robbie Keane in a 4-4-2.

Trapattoni is also loth to deviate from two defensive-minded and experienced central midfielders, meaning that McCarthy has it all to do to carve a niche for himself in the starting line-up. The bandwagon for his inclusion, though, would start to roll if he were to impress against Uruguay or either of the friendlies against Northern Ireland and Scotland in May.

"McCarthy must not be shy," Trapattoni said. "I want him to look for the ball and be vocal."

Kelly will certainly not be overawed by the occasion. "You have to deal with these things and it's something I'm more than capable of taking with both hands," he said. "I don't think I'll be nervous at this stage [of my career] and even though I haven't played for a couple of months, I've always been an extremely fit player so the 90 minutes won't be a problem. Hopefully, it's something I can really enjoy."

Republic of Ireland (4-4-1-1) Westwood; Foley, O'Dea, Kelly, Clark; Lawrence, Green, Fahey, Keogh; McCarthy; Long.

Uruguay (4-3-3) Muslera; Fucile, Godín, Lugano, Cáceres; M Pereira, Pérez, A Pereira; Cavani, Forlán, Hernández.