GARETH Taylor is delighted to be back in the Wales squad for the fourth successive time and he hopes he is there to stay.

As his international career stalled during a tough spell at Manchester City he might have thought he would never add to the caps he had won at previous clubs.

But as he prepares to fly to Helsinki for this weekend's European Championship qualifier with Finland he admitted: "It was not hard settling back in, even after a three year absence.

"A lot of the players that were there when I was last part of the plans are still remaining so it was quite easy to get back into the swing of things."

Taylor made his international debut against Albania in 1996 after he had made the move from Bristol Rovers to Crystal Palace.

He won one other cap while at Selhurst Park and then six more during his time at Sheffield United.

But he struggled to become a first team regular at Maine Road, going out on loan to Port Vale, Queens Park Rangers and finally Burnley and seeing himself drift into the international wilderness.

The move to Turf Moor looked to have changed that when he was called up by Mark Hughes a year ago but, having not featured in the World Cup qualifiers against Armenia and Norway he was suddenly overlooked again.

Taylor's disappointment was doubled as he had initially lost his place in the Burnley side while away on international duty and but his reaction was not to sulk. He simply rolled up his sleeves and worked harder as he recorded a personal best tally of 16 League goals in last season's campaign.

That strike rate earned him a recall and, almost four years after he had won his eighth cap, he collected his ninth in the friendly against the Czech Republic last March.

Only a couple of weeks ago he made it double figures with half an hour in the impressive 1-1 draw away to Croatia but now he is keen to be involved in the serious action as they begin their qualifying campaign for Euro 2004.

The Welsh have started climbing the FIFA rankings after some useful friendly results, not least the 1-0 win against Germany in the Millennium Stadium shortly before the World Cup but the time has come for them to do something in a major championship.

"The serious starts now and we all believe it is a good opportunity for Wales to at last do well," he explained, despite the fact they are in a group that contains the improving Finns, Italy, Yugoslavia, and Azerbaijan. "Things are looking up for us and we have had some good results recently.

"There is a good atmosphere in the squad and we are all looking to do well. I am really enjoying it, playing and training with high quality players and at 29 I know I am still learning."

Having started last season with a goal on the opening day, Taylor is as frustrated as anyone at Turf Moor by the slow start to this season in front of goal but for the next few days his focus has to be elsewhere.

He just hopes that when he returns to Burnley ahead of the Worthington Cup clash against Blackpool next week it will be with another international cap and the confidence of a win for Wales.