KEITH O'NEILL arrived in Dublin yesterday morning to ensure Mick McCarthy has an extra striking option when he names his team for Wednesday's World Cup assignment in Macedonia.

Good as his word, O'Neill honoured a promise he made to McCarthy a fortnight ago, by scoring and proving his fitness in Norwich's 3-0 success over Swindon Town on Saturday.

It provided quick compensation for the Irish manager who was informed on Saturday evening, that he would not be able to count on the experience of Ray Houghton for the crucial challenge of getting among the Macedonian defence.

Despite getting through Crystal Palace's game against Birmingham City on Saturday, Houghton feels that he is not yet fit enough to handle the additional pressures of international football after a nine week lay off with a hip injury.

McCarthy is certain to rue the loss of a man with a proven track record on big match days, but in the sense that most of his problems are rooted in the front line, he will, on balance, be happy that O'Neill's pace and perception is again available to him.

Like Houghton, O'Neill was out for nine weeks before returning to Norwich's team against Bolton, a week last Saturday. Ebullient as ever, he believes that, he has a substantial contribution to make but admits that it is still a bit of a struggle.

"In a sense it's like starting back into pre season training all over again," he said. "I only had one training session last week and I probably need more time to get myself sharp again. But this is an important game for Ireland and I'm prepared to bust a gut to play in it."

Ominously, O'Neill needed treatment within two minutes of the start of Saturday's game at Swindon but picked himself off the ground to score one of their three goals in a game dominated by Norwich's England under 21 player, Darren Eadie.

In accepting Houghton's withdrawal, McCarthy applauded the player's maturity in making a difficult professional decision. Equally, he was optimistic, that the Crystal Palace player will have attained the requisite degree of match fitness for the meeting with "Romania in Bucharest in four weeks' time.

Even with the benefit of another few games, there is no guarantee that Houghton will be recalled to the national team for the first time since the game in Liechtenstein last August but clearly, his is a presence which McCarthy admires.

The immediate beneficiary will be Alan McLoughlin, who is now likely to be assigned the responsibility of getting forward quickly from midfield to support the two front runners. It's a role which the Portsmouth player has discharged with some success in the past and would again; like everybody else. I'm still waiting and hoping for the word that I'm in the team but if it comes, I'll be delighted," he said. "My game is mostly about running from midfield but I'll gladly take any job the manager cares to give me.

The word about Steve Staunton's fitness is encouraging. His problems in this area, over the last 18 months, are well documented and it was not until Aston Villa's game against Blackburn Rovers last week, that he ended his latest absence from club duty.

Earlier, the manager commented on a statement attributed to Andy Townsend that he had offered to step down as team captain. "Andy will captain the team on Wednesday - that is if I picks him," he said.

Roy Keane is seen as the player most likely to succeed him when he goes but that apparently won't happen for some time. "On the pitch, I've got no doubts about Roy's ability to skipper the team but off it, you've got to have a little bit more to offer these days, in terms of dealing with the media," said McCarthy.

"A manager must have a special relationship with his team captain and Andy Townsend acts as the go between in my dealings with other players.

On Keane, the player, McCarthy said: "I wouldn't know every midfield player in Europe but I "haven't seen anybody better than Roy. In another era, Liam Brady had a marvellous ability to bend in crosses and ghost past opponents. Roy's not as good in these facets of the game as Brady, but it seems to me he does more things better.

"When you look at the Manchester United team, you know automatically, that they will struggle to replace certain players in their team and Keane, automatically, fits into that category."