MARK KENNEDY is looking forward to the prospect of making the short journey from his home in Liverpool to link up with the Republic of Ireland squad in Cardiff next Sunday.

Kennedy is one of the younger players named by Mick McCarthy in a squad of 20 which is certain to form the core of the travelling party for the World Cup games in Macedonia on April 2nd and Romania four weeks later.

The preliminary indications are that he will struggle to find a place in the starting line-up against Wales, even more so when established players of the quality of Andy Townsend and Ray Houghton become available for World Cup duty.

Yet player and manager alike, acknowledge the significance of the call-up. "When you've been out of the squad for some time, it's nice to be reassured that you haven't been forgotten," said Kennedy.

McCarthy stops short of confirming that the Liverpool player's selection in the squad will lead to an 11th cap. But he is quick to make the point that Kennedy is now looking more like the player he sold for Millwall for a fee of £1.2 million - a record for a teenager - two years ago.

"At the time, he looked a fabulous prospect, but like so many before him, he found it hard to deliver on, his reputation when he joined Liverpool," he said. "He's been involved in the first-team squad on a number of occasions in recent months, and that has to be encouraging. Interestingly from our point of view, they have tended to use him as a front player in the reserve team this season.

"I, too, tried him up front when I had him at Millwall, but then he was probably a bit light for the job. Additional attacking options would be welcomed by everybody involved with the Ireland team, and to that extent, it will be interesting to watch his progress at Anfield."

Within seven months of joining Liverpool, the Dubliner was elevated to senior international status for the important European Championship game in Austria. He subsequently won another nine caps, but after a difficult American tour last June, his international career began to run adrift.

Kennedy will identify easily with the problems of Ian Harte another young player whose career is in temporary difficulty. His introduction to the top grade was, in some respects, even more spectacular than that of the Liverpool player, for he was still three months short of his 19th birthday when he won his first cap against Croatia last June.

Two goals in six international appearances, both delivered in a mid-field role, testified to the arrival of a significant new talent. However, as the realists feared, it proved a difficult act to sustain. Promoted to the Leeds United first team by Howard Wilkinson, he has since struggled to impose himself on George Graham's plans.

That disappoints rather than disillusions McCarthy. "Young Ian played so well for us, looked so comfortable in the team, that for all his, inexperience, I thought he would just go from strength to strength.

"Lads of his age will always be at risk, however, and after going out of the first team at Elland Road, he now has to battle his way back into favour. That's something which will happen sooner rather than later, but Just now, it's depriving him of the experience he needs to get on with his international career."

In leaving out Harte, McCarthy said he was influenced by the need to watch Gary Kelly, his uncle and clubmate, before finalising plans for the expedition to Macedonia. It suggests that for all the rich promise of his introduction to the big time, Harte is not going to be in the frame for the next three Word Cup games.

In a sense, it bespeaks the manager's determination to marry pragmatism with professionalism in the attempt to get the Irish squad to the finals for a third consecutive occasion.

But for all the pitfalls of their trade, the likelihood is that Ian Harte's name, no less than that of Mark Kennedy, is going to be synonymous with the national team for many years to come.