RAY HOUGHTON'S return to Crystal Palace's team after a protracted injury, a source of some agitation for Mick McCarthy, is now likely to materialise within the next fortnight.

Houghton hasn't appeared in Ireland's team since filling an influential role in the opening World Cup qualifying game in Liechtenstein in August.

Since them, he's been hit by muscular trouble and more recently a hip injury, a double setback which has eaten heavily into his seasonal programme.

Now, at last, he appears to have distanced himself from the worst of his problems and providing there are no late complications, he is hopeful of proving his fitness in good time for the next World Cup assignment against Macedonia at Skopje on April 2nd.

"It's been a long haul for me but thankfully, I'm now getting there," he said. "Since that match in Liechtenstein, it's been a case of one fitness problem after another, with a suspension thrown in for good measure, but now at last, there's light at the end of the tunnel.

"From a long way back, it was on the cards that the matches in Macedonia and Romania were going to be the big ones for Ireland and I'd love to be a part of them."

Houghton's steady rate of progress will make encouraging reading for Mick McCarthy as he looks ahead to the Macedonian and Romanian fixtures which may well determine whether he takes his squad to the World Cup finals in France next year.

He rejects suggestions that the Crystal Palace player was one of those at risk when he embarked on his rebuilding programme at the end of last season. Yet, he can only have been reassured by the manner in which the veteran mid fielder emerged as a dominant personality in the game.

Assigned a more central role than in the 4-4-2 formation favoured by McCarthy's predecessor, Jack Charlton, he answered questions about his capacity to get the full 90 minutes in international football with an impressive performance of non stop running.

McCarthy stops short of saying that the Crystal Palace player has merely to prove his fitness to get into the starting line up in Macedonia. He makes no attempt, however, to disguise his admiration for the manner in which Houghton has retained his form and his zest since dropping down a division.

Raymond's attitude and his general enthusiasm for the game is a model for any young player," he said. "He's still prepared to do the work, still prepared to cover vast areas of grass and that's a credit to his professionalism.

"I'm not about to go making promises of first team places to anybody. But I'll be happy when he gets himself back to full fitness - and into Palace's team."

Since taking charge a year ago, McCarthy has invariably gone with two specialist forwards. Now he may be tempted to jettison one of them in favour of a fifth midfielder to play between the middle line and the target man, presumably Tony Cascarino.

Houghton, with his penchant for pushing forward, would appear to be ideally suited to that role, although he may, conceivably face sharp competition from Alan McLoughlin.