Hughes, 35 next month, admits he will be proud to captain the side in their crucial European Championship qualifier with Belarus in Cardiff on a night of dual significance for the veteran forward. Tonight the captaincy falls to Hughes as he wins his 69th cap and overtakes the legendary Ivor Allchurch - who died recently after a long illness - to become the fifth most-capped Welsh footballer. MARK HUGHES leads his country for the first time on Welsh soil tonight to fulfil an ambition he has long coveted during an illustrious career. McCarthy said: "Roy's more relaxed these days and he's better for it.

"For raw ability and natural technique, Robbie's the best striker I've played with," he said. "And that's saying something, having had just one Ireland game together. But I believe he's that good."Keane said: "That's good to hear from somebody like Niall who, not long ago, I could only have dreamed of playing beside for Ireland."It is another Keane - Manchester United's Roy - who remains Ireland's key player. His goalscoring return against Croatia after nine months out with a knee injury delighted his manager. They are also without their leading goalscorer Carmel Busuttil, who has stayed at home because of a "family crisis."The onus will be on the strikers Niall Quinn and Robbie Keane - the 18- year-old Wolves prodigy who is still looking for his first goal at this level - to deliver the goods.Quinn, 32, returning to action after a back injury, remains one of the few links with the Republic's glorious past, and he said nothing will delight him more than helping new heroes like young Keane fulfil vast potential. But they should not be unduly troubled by the part-timers of Malta, who have not scored a goal in five previous meetings with the Republic and have won only two European Championship qualifying matches in 34 years. "I like to think we have reached the stage now where we are a strong, first-class international squad again," he said.

"We had nearly everybody fit and turning up for the Croatia game last month, just like the old days, and we came up with a terrific result. Since then we've suffered a couple of injuries but that's just another test we have to pass if we are to show what the squad is made of."Coventry's Gary Breen and Blackburn's Jeff Kenna are recalled in defence to replace Denis Irwin and Phil Babb. But more than 32,000 fans, encouraged by last month's impressive 2-0 victory over the World Cup semi-finalists Croatia, will be expecting a big win over Malta.McCarthy is confident his team will stand on top of Group Eight at the end of what should be 90 one-sided minutes. Another full house provides confirmation that the team in green have captured the public's imagination again, in the wake of Jack Charlton's departure three years ago.

McCarthy won only six of his first 24 matches while trying to unearth adequate replacements for the ageing Paul McGrath, John Aldridge, Ronnie Whelan and Andy Townsend. With no Irish participation in the World Cup finals or the European Championship - almost customary under Charlton - it needed the staunch loyalty of McCarthy's employers at the Football Association of Ireland to keep him in a job. The truth is that football is popular in Andorra, but not among Andorrans. There are are 1,733 registered players, including women and children, but almost all are immigrants. Under the tiny but wealthy country's restrictive nationality laws, it is impossible for them to become naturalised Andorrans.Miluir has pleaded for relaxation of the rules: for more money for football and for the lights to be kept on later in the national stadium on training nights To no avail. "If I were cynical, I would say the national sport here is opening and closing the cash box," Miluir said.The match poses a tricky problem of protocol for one keen French football fan, President Chirac. At the World Cup final, he wore a France scarf and carried a squad shirt bearing the number 23 He is expected to go to tonight's game. But will he wear two scarves, or swap at half-time? Andorra's joint heads of state are a Spanish bishop and the president of the French Republic..