THE distinctive running style brought to mind memories of a long forgotten figure, even if the upper body appeared slightly too strapping. With a glance down at the team sheet came proof of identity. Paul Ritchie it was. Come in squad shirt No16: your time in purdah is up.

While attention was fixed firmly on the returning deity Kevin Keegan, Sunday night’s FA Cup fifth-round clash between Newcastle and Manchester City was the scene of another, somewhat less heralded, comeback.

The Maine Road defender was making only his second start of the season after a two-and-a-half year battle with injury, and Ritchie is now angling for a berth in Berti Vogts’ first international squad for next month’s friendly with France. A return to the Scotland fold would offer the six-times capped former Hearts player confirmation of a career restored.

"That would underline to me that I was back, " said Ritchie, whose last appearance for Scotland came against Holland two years ago. "A place in the Scotland squad would be the sign that the agonies of the last two-and-a-half years have been worth it. But my aim first of all is to get back into the Manchester City first team on a regular basis, and if I can do that over the next few weeks then maybe I can start looking to France."

Alan Shearer was described by Keegan as still the best leader of a line in British football on Sunday night, but in saying so his former manager was also paying a compliment to Ritchie, the striker’s opposite man at St James’ Park. The in-form Shearer, who had scored 12 times in his previous 13 appearances, was rendered almost ineffective by a powerful display from Ritchie, his shadow throughout.

" I think I showed on Sunday night that I am able to operate at the highest level again," Ritchie said yesterday. "That is the level I want to play at. These are the games in which you want to test yourself. I was on a hiding to nothing. If I hadn’t done well, it would have sent a clear message out that I was not ready to return. But hopefully I have proven myself to the manager."

The last 30 months have been a nightmare for Ritchie, but he is thankful that he has emerged from the darkness with a club who are clearly going places, despite having been knocked out of the FA Cup on Sunday evening.

Though beaten 1-0, City were worthy of a replay. While their beguiling front players such as Eyal Berkovic and Shaun Wright-Phillips might have stolen much of the praise, Ritchie’s performance cannot have escaped the attention of Keegan.

However, whether the City manager will include the player at the expense of club captain Stuart Peace for Saturday’s return to Nationwide Division 1 duty at Walsall is another matter.

Pearce, suspended on Sunday night, has been a revelation this season playing on the left side of a three-man defence, despite his 38 years. If Keegan is known for anything other than wearing his heart on his sleeve, it is for loyalty. This will not make being dropped any easier to accept for a player intent on making up for lost time, rather than simply holding it back, like Pearce.

"I’ll be disappointed if I am not playing again on Saturday," admitted Ritchie. "I think I showed against Alan Shearer on Sunday that I merit another start, but there is such a lot of competition here. Stuart Peace is coming back and then there is Steve Howey, and also Lucien Mettomo who will be back from international duty with Cameroon.

Hopefully, I have shown I am capable, but I am realistic and know I might find myself back on the bench on Saturday. I will have to grin and bear it if that is the case, and work away. Kevin Keegan will make the decision, and I will respect it. It is just an honour to be involved with him."

You cannot imagine Ritchie affording the same measure of respect to former Rangers manager and current Ibrox director of football Dick Advocaat. The Dutchman jettisoned Ritchie, not having see him play a competitive game for Rangers, despite buying him from Bolton.

"I was disappointed to leave Rangers without having been given a genuine chance," he said. "It is a big blow being rejected even before the start of the season. I’m not bitter, just disappointed. Rangers are one of the biggest clubs in the world, and for the manager to sell me the way he did was not on."

This treatment clearly still hurts Ritchie, though not as much as the lost time given up to a pelvic injury picked up in an FA Cup semi-final when with Bolton. He underwent a double hernia operation before arriving at Manchester City in 2000, his nostrils flaring with a desire to resurrect his career.

Instead, he merely aggrav-ated the old injury, and was forced to seek medical advice from a specialist in Paris. Having made a goalscoring return for the reserves against Shef-field Wednesday late last year, Ritchie is now keen to establish himself in a City first team at the top of Division 1.

He has used his time on the sidelines profitably, having built his upper body up into something far removed from the slip of a lad who would once lose himself inside a maroon shirt.

"You have to be strong to handle players like Shearer and Emile Heskey," said the man who appears able to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders but is now mercifully free to cast off the troubles of the past.

Taken from the Scotsman