It was a scrape with Duncan Ferguson on his first Premiership appearance for Derby County which helped Rory Delap confirm his credentials for a full Republic of Ireland cap.

Everton provided the opposition when Delap ran out for the first time in a Derby shirt and among those who watched the game was Mick McCarthy.

"I remember an incident when Rory got involved with Duncan Ferguson," says McCarthy. "It was an ordeal for a young lad making his debut in the big time, but Rory didn't back off. And that impressed me.

"I'd always admired his skills and his ability to adapt to different jobs. But now I knew for sure that he had an unmistakable physical presence on the pitch as well."

Delap, born in Carlisle almost 26 years ago to Irish parents, almost never made it into football after showing exceptional talent as a javelin thrower during his school days. At that time, he was getting out to close on 60 metres with the javelin, good enough to persuade his mentors that he should pursue a full-time career in athletics.

He chose not to do so and the softly-spoken lad who supported Manchester United on those occasions when he wasn't watching Carlisle United went on to achieve even bigger things in football.

As a United fan, he recalls going to Old Trafford on one occasion and watching Roy Keane, then with Nottingham Forest, "kick lumps out of Lee Sharpe. I've since played against Roy in the Premiership and, fortunately, was quick enough to avoid finding out if he still bites in the tackle," says Delap.

Now he'll find common cause with Keane in turning the screw on the Turks this evening. And that, in a sense, says it all about the fairytale return of the man who disappeared from the Ireland scene for 18 months after playing in the scoreless draw with Mexico in May of last year.

True, his return on the back of five goals for Derby this season - two of them against Chelsea - has been made possible in part by the absence of Mark Kennedy and Gary Kelly, but that doesn't diminish the sense of achievement.

"It's a huge game for me, the biggest of my life and I can't wait to get going," he says. "I sensed I might have a chance when Mark and Gary pulled out, but it was still a great feeling when the manager told me on Thursday evening that I was in.

"I remember playing in Paul McGrath's testimonial game and marvelling at the noise the crowd made at Lansdowne Road. Now, it's probably going to be even noisier and that will certainly pump up the adrenalin.

"I've played all over the pitch for Derby since going there, with the exception of going into goal, but I take heart from the fact that I'll be playing in probably my best position on the right side of midfield in this game.

"Dad, who comes from Donegal, is travelling over for he game. And for him as well as everybody else in the crowd, I hope I do well and the team gets the kind of result which will give us a real chance of winning the tie."