JON GOODMAN, one of the players in line to benefit from John Aldridge's retirement from international soccer, is set to make a long-awaited return to action this evening.

Goodman, the latest English-born player to establish his credentials to represent Ireland, has been cleared to test his fitness in Wimbledon's reserve team game against Cardiff City.

His performance could win him a place in the side to face Coventry City on Saturday in what would be his first English FA Premiership appearance since he damaged his groin against West Ham on September 24th.

His progress will be monitored carefully by Mick McCarthy who called him up for the recent Iceland game only to discover that he was still unfit. The likelihood is that Goodman, fitness permitting, will win his first cap in the World Cup warm-up fixture tentatively planned for February 12th.

Niall Quinn is expected to be discharged from a Yorkshire hospital at the weekend after undergoing surgery on his knee for the second time in two years. A hospital spokesman said that the operation was successful and that no complications are anticipated.

It suggests that Quinn's recovery period will be shorter than that which put him on the sidelines for six months during the 1993-'94 season. However, the injury is still likely to rule him out of the two World Cup qualifying games in Macedonia and Romania in April.

The pressures of his post as player-manager of Tranmere Rovers were responsible for Aldridge's decision to end an Ireland career which encompassed 69 appearances and 19 goals since his debut against Wales in March 1986

He is understood to have come under increasing pressure at Tranmere to concentrate on his commitments there and his case was scarcely helped when, after participating in a week-long build-up to the Icelandic game, he was left on the bench by MeCarthy.

There had been signs of agitation on Aldridge's part when he opted out of the travelling party for the opening World Cup game in Liechtenstein after being told that he didn't figure in the actual match plans.

Breaking point arrived, however, when McCarthy chose to send on Alan Moore to replace David Kelly last Sunday.

His retirement means that he stays on the same goalscoring mark as Don Givens, just one short of the record holder, Frank Stapleton, who led the tributes yesterday to one of the most colourful international careers of recent times.

"He's shown himself to be one of the most prolific scorers in English football and he's delivered everywhere he's been," said Stapleton. "It took him a long time to hit the target for Ireland, but once his first goal arrived he was always capable of getting the team out of trouble.

"I'm just a little surprised that he chose to go at this time, but the pressures of managing and playing in a club team are immense. And it didn't help that when he came over to join the squad, he found himself out of the team.

In his time in charge, Jack Charlton substituted Aldridge on no fewer than 29 occasions, more than any Irish player in history. But far from serving as an indictment of his contribution to the team, that statistic is advanced as a tribute to the player by the former manager.

"In our game plan, the front players ended up as the people who did most of the running" Charlton said. "That I had to replace John so often was down to the fact that he simply ran himself into the ground for the team.

"Others may have got the full 90 minutes comfortably, but when you're expected to range across the breadth of the field and still deliver goats it imposes huge demands. And Aldo spared nothing in that job.

"With an extra half yard of pace he would have been among the best strikers in the world, but his role in the team and the manner in which he discharged it still made him one of our most valuable players."

Aldridge, who intends to go on playing for Tranmere, nurtures hopes of returning to the Ireland camp, one day - as manager.

I'm now serving my apprenticeship in management, but I like to think that if I do well I may be a candidate for the Ireland job at some point in the future," he said.

It was confirmed yesterday that Brendan Menton Jnr and Fergus McArdle will be candidates for the vacant post of FAI Treasurer. The vacancy was caused by the appointment of Bernard O'Byrne in the association's chief executive in May.