ALAN McLOUGHLIN'S renaissance in international football was acknowledged yesterday as Mick McCarthy reflected on the first troubled months of his reign as Republic of Ireland manager.

The extensive rebuilding programme which, McCarthy warned, could only be undertaken at high risk has proved just as painful as the pragmatism in him had suggested. And with five defeats and a draw in his opening six games, the new man is already deep into the pressures of the job.

On his own admission, there is nothing so seriously wrong that a good win could not put right, but at this point, all he has to sustain him is the promise of some bright newcomers and the sense of renewal experienced by players like McLoughlin and Liam O'Brien.

For all the emerging talent of young players like Shay Given, Gary Breen, David Connolly and Keith O'Neill, he still rates McLoughlin's level of performance as the outstanding feature of a difficult tour to date.

"Much of what I've seen from the younger players with us is very encouraging, but if I had to name the best player in the games we've played so far it would be Alan," said McCarthy. "He has not had the recognition which perhaps a player of his quality deserved over the years, but I think he is now thriving on the responsibility which goes with anchoring a young team such as ours.

"Yes, you could say that he is very much back in the frame for a first team place. I'm not going to predict my side for the start of the World Cup, but I tell you something, it's going to be very hard for any player to keep Alan out of it."

For McLoughlin, who wrote himself into folklore with the goal which secured Ireland's place in the World Cup finals in America two years ago, the change of managership did not come a day too soon.

"To be honest, I was thinking - of packing in my international career, such as it was, and concentrating on club football, until Mick was appointed," he said.

"I travelled all over Europe and America with the squad, made myself available at every opportunity and invariably ended up sitting on the bench.

"You can live with that situation only for so long and after being left on the bench when things began to go wrong in the play off game against Holland at Anfield last December, I felt I couldn't take much more of it.

"It was my wife who talked me out of it - and I'm glad she did. With Mick in charge, everybody gets a fair crack of the whip and I'm now enjoying playing with Ireland much better than at any time since I first came into the squad," said McLoughlin.

O'Brien has also taken on more responsibility in the absence of senior midfield players such as Andy Townsend, Roy Keane and John Sheridan and while he doesn't quite rate as high as McLoughlin in the long term World Cup calculations at this point, he too has enhanced his image since agreeing to tour.

Talking about his younger players, McCarthy said: "Some of them have looked very comfortable on the ball, others less so, but I think all of them will agree that their game has improved since we first got together a fortnight ago.

"Mark Kennedy, for example, is now showing a lot more responsibility in holding the ball and taking on opponents. Before this he tended to lay it off at the first opportunity and I couldn't understand the logic of giving it to somebody else who, perhaps didn't have the same ball playing skills as he possessed.

"At last the penny has dropped with Mark and as a result of his experiences over the last two weeks, he too will be better equipped to cope when we get to the nitty gritty of competitive games in the autumn.

Gary Breen has also done himself a lot of favours by his composure and discipline in defence and up front David Connolly shows signs of cementing a potentially rewarding partnership with Niall Quinn.

The Watford youngster says he has prospered playing alongside Quinn and he displayed composure in opening his scoring account for Ireland in the 2-1 defeat by the United States in Boston on Sunday.

Ahead lies a test which is potentially more difficult still against Mexico in the Giants Stadium in New Jersey tomorrow.

It was confirmed yesterday that Tony Cascarino will not, as anticipated, be travelling to America to strengthen a depleted squad. Cascarino, who was given permission to break camp last week and return to London for his mother's wedding on Saturday, reported yesterday that a knee injury sustained in Rotterdam was not responding to treatment and that an operation may be necessary to repair some cartilage damage.

Nor is that the end of McCarthy's problems. Although Jeff Kenna hasn't yet ruled himself out of the meetings with Mexico and Bolivia, it looks as if the hamstring injury which necessitated his premature departure against the US will not respond in time to enable him to play.