AARON HUGHES has thanked Newcastle boss Graeme Souness for handing him the perfect preparation for today's World Cup qualifier with England.

The Northern Ireland captain had lost his place in the Magpies starting line-up following the January arrivals of Jean-Alain Boumsong and Celestine Babayaro, plus the return to fitness of Stephen Carr.

But Hughes has forced his way back into the Newcastle reckoning and has started the last five matches, meaning he can go into this afternoon's international at Old Trafford in the perfect shape.

With 40 caps behind him, the versatile defender admits leading Northern Ireland out in front of a patriotic English crowd will be as tough a test as he has faced for his country.

Hughes, who then travels to Poland for Wednesday's qualifier, said: "Saturday is like a World Cup final for the Northern Ireland squad.

Everyone is focused on England but we have two massive fixtures and we have to treat the trip to Poland with just as much professionalism.

"I'm just happy I'm back in the Newcastle side going into the Old Trafford match. The manager has always shown confidence in me whether I've been in or out of the United side, but of course this month's match practice has been much appreciated.

"On a personal level I wanted to hit the ground running against England and I've been given the opportunity to do that. When we play internationals away from home we don't get much coverage and we barely register on the radars of most football fans."

Having England and Wales in our group has raised our profile and we have to capitalise on that and play to our potential in front of a wider audience.

"Nobody expects us to get a result at Old Trafford. We just have to go out there and enjoy our day and do ourselves justice. We can't be afraid, overawed or intimidated by anything or anyone."

Northern Ireland are ranked 111th in the FIFA world rankings after years of poor form at international level.

David Healy ended Northern Ireland's long search for a goal 13 months ago when his goal against Norway was his country's first in 1,298 minutes of football - the longest goal drought in European history.

Hughes hopes under Lawrie Sanchez, who signed a new deal yesterday, the Irish are beginning to turn things around slowly.

He also hopes the more Premiership players they have in their squad the better, singling out Sunderland's push for promotion as beneficial to Sanchez's cause.

"For Northern Ireland we need as many players playing in the top flight as possible. If George McCartney and Jeff Whitley could go up with Sunderland this summer it would be a massive boost to the international set-up," said Hughes, one of just six Premiership stars in a 23-man squad.

"The more players we have involved in the top level, the better it will be for us in terms of raising the overall standard of our football.

"We haven't got a large pool of Premiership players to pick from but the lads from the lower leagues come in and do a very good job. If you look at the clubs they're at, a number of them are involved in successful teams and Sunderland is a case in point.

"Success breeds success - George and Jeff were in buoyant mood this week with Sunderland's situation and rightly so."

The Newcastle players who have not been on international duty this week have spent five days training in Dubai and will return tomorrow to prepare for their next game with Aston Villa at St James' Park next Saturday.

* Northern Ireland manager Lawrie Sanchez last night expressed his determination to lead the province into a glorious new era after signing a two-and-a-half-year extension to his contract.

Sanchez's deal was due to expire after the World Cup qualifying campaign but the Irish Football Association confirmed the 45-year-old will now lead the national team in their bid to reach the 2008 European Championships as well.

The backroom staff of Gerry Armstrong, Terry Gibson and Dave Beasant have all signed for a similar length of time.

Sanchez said: ''Hopefully in my time in charge we can qualify for a major tournament.

''I am pleased to be signing a new contract with the IFA as it gives me a chance to carry on the good work my staff and I have started."

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