Interview with Damien Duff Emmet Malonehears the attacker praise the aspirant Ireland manager

Injury ensured that he missed much of Steve Staunton's brief reign, a fact that may well have actually hastened the Louthman's demise. Now, however, Damien Duff is looking forward, excited, he says, about finding out who the next Ireland manager will be and rather taken with what he has heard so far about the favourite for the job, Terry Venables.

"The first competitive qualifier isn't until September so there isn't any great rush about it; the most important thing is they get the right man," says Duff, who was in Dublin yesterday promoting a new Adidas boot, the Adipure.

"But having somebody in for the Brazil game would be nice and from what I hear Terry Venables would be a good appointment, definitely, yeah.

"Of the lads at our place, Alan Smith worked with him at Leeds and he gives him rave reviews; says he's a top coach and great with players. And Steve Round (Newcastle's first-team coach), who was with him at England, says I'd love him too."

To the best of his knowledge, he says, none of the current Ireland squad has worked with the Londoner.

"Well, Clinton (Morrison), maybe, but sometimes he doesn't even know what day of the week it is," he grins, "so I haven't bothered asking him.

"Really, though, I've heard nothing but good reports about him so if he gets it, yeah, it would be brilliant."

Best of all for the 28-year-old, however, is the prospect of just playing for his country again almost a year after he featured in the wins over Wales and Slovakia at Croke Park. Not long after, the former Blackburn Rovers and Chelsea midfielder broke a bone in a foot and needed surgery.

"It's been an absolutely horrendous time for me," he says now. "Probably all I do is live to play football, and to be out for eight-and-a-half months like that wasn't nice at all. It's a huge relief to be back playing again."

Staunton, he says, was unlucky with injuries and Duff insists that, given the limited options available, the new manager would also struggle in similar circumstances.

"We've got tough games coming up because obviously Italy and Bulgaria are good sides but we have a chance if we keep the squad fit.

"We didn't have that last time round and while you can talk about other things, first and foremost we need to have everybody fit."

The next manager's cause has not been helped, though, by the retirements of both Steve Finnan and Steve Carr, neither of whom, reckons Duff, will be coaxed into returning.

"I know Steve (Carr) has got young kids and in those circumstances your priorities change, which is understandable," he says. For all that, though, the Dubliner cannot imagine walking away from international football to spend more time at home or concentrate on his club career.

"Football generally means so much to me," he says, "and to play for your country when your family and friends are there . . . there's no prouder moment. It hasn't been a good couple of years in terms of the international set up, but retirement? No chance."

Having made only 30 starts for Newcastle since moving there a year and a half ago from Chelsea he feels he still has much to prove to the club's fans.

His return from injury came just before Christmas, and Tuesday night's game against Arsenal was the 10th of his comeback, a new start, he says, under another new Newcastle manager.

"We've only had a week or so of working with him (Kevin Keegan)," remarks Duff, "but you definitely get the sense that if anybody can turn things around up there he can. He's a god to the fans and he's good with the players; he looks to have a bit of craic with us all.

"He clearly loves football and I love that about him. And when you look at the teams he's had before, particularly at Newcastle, it's easy to see why it was such a popular appointment.

"I think the club was everybody's second favourite when he was in charge; everybody loved looking at them for the exciting football."

Two rather one-sided defeats by Arsenal have provided a measure of just how far there is to go before Newcastle can seriously challenge the best but Duff believes things are already moving in the right direction.

Hopefully, he's right, for the Premier League would be considerably enriched by a Newcastle side playing with the attacking swagger of a decade ago.

The new Ireland manager may find it even harder to transform the fortunes of the side he inherits but a fit Damien Duff would certainly boost his chances.