STEPHEN ELLIOTT has been rewarded for an impressive start to life at Sunderland by being called up by his country.

And Republic of Ireland boss Brian Kerr has claimed that in Elliott the Black Cats have a striker with the potential to fire Mick McCarthy's men to the Premiership.

The Sunderland forward has already scored seven goals in the Championship since making the summer switch from Manchester City - a record that has persuaded Kerr into naming him in the latest Ireland squad.

McCarthy has already suggested how he believes Elliott, who has also scored once in the Carling Cup, can follow Tottenham front-man Robbie Keane's lead and become a hit on the international stage.

Keane is already the Republic's leading all-time marksman, while Elliott, the only uncapped player in the 25-man squad, holds the Under-21s record.

And now the pair could be given a chance to form a partnership for their country a week today when Croatia visit Lansdowne Road.

"It has not surprised me that Stephen has done so well since his move to Sunderland at the start of the season," said Kerr, knowing that Elliott has graduated every year from Under-16 international level.

"With his previous club Manchester City, he was a little down the pecking order for strikers. At 20 the lad shows great promise. It's the right time to bring him in."

An X-ray on Elliott's injured foot revealed no broken bones and he will be hoping to play in this weekend's trip to Leicester before joining up with his fellow Irishmen.

Sunderland's Matt Piper has resigned himself to missing out on making an emotional return to action at Leicester this weekend but is relieved to be finally nearing a first team comeback.

McCarthy has revealed the winger will play for the reserves against Manchester United on Thursday and make his only appearance since undergoing a knee operation in the summer.

It has been one problem after another for Piper since arriving from Leicester in 2002 for £3.5m and he has only made a total of 13 starts for the Black Cats in that spell of just over two years.

Top specialist Dr Richard Steadman - the man who has saved the careers of Ruud van Nistelrooy, Alan Shearer and Craig Bellamy in the past - was the man to operate on the Sunderland star.

And now Piper, who last played at Crystal Palace in April, believes the time is right for him to finally get his career back on track after going under the knife for the fourth time since making the move to Wearside.

The 23-year-old had previously revealed his hopes of making a long-awaited return to Championship action at his former club Leicester this Saturday - a target that has proved too optimistic.

But he said: "It's an exciting time for me. Training has gone well and I'm just about ready for a game. Once I've played a couple of times for the reserves I can start looking to get on the bench."

McCarthy is excited by the prospect of having the player available again after such a long time on the sidelines.

But the Sunderland boss insists he will be wrapping Piper in cotton wool until he knows for sure that he can cope with the strains of life in the Football League again.

"Matt looks strong in training and we'll look to give him a game this week. His rehab has gone well, he looks strong and we're very hopeful that his problems are behind him," said McCarthy, who should be able to call upon Stephen Wright and Gary Breen again at Leicester after thigh injuries.

Meanwhile, the Football Association have written to the police amid allegations that Sunderland's Julio Arca made V-signs to Millwall supporters during Friday night's match at The Den.

It has been claimed that the Argentinian made the gesture three times to the home fans after a clash with the Lions' Kevin Muscat.

If Arca's actions, said to have led to a number of complaints from the public, are proven then he could be fined and possibly face a ban.

Referee Andre Marriner did not include the apparent incident in his report but an FA spokesman said last night: "We have written to the police and we are waiting a response.

"We will wait to see if there have been any complaints before we do anything. Once we have heard something we will take it from there."

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