Wilson eager to get international career into gear

Marc Wilson is primed to surpass the century mark of Premier League appearances this month yet it’s his international drought that has him most puzzled.

For a variety of reasons — some of his own making, he admits — the Stoke City defender has played a mere 10 minutes for Ireland, and that was as a substitute against Wales in the Carling Nations Cup 18 months ago.

Recently turned 25, the Antrim man should be nearing the peak of career but remains an international novice compared to club colleagues Glenn Whelan and Jon Walters.

A series of withdrawals from Ireland squads, especially on the eve of the friendly against Northern Ireland in May 2011, prompted Giovanni Trapattoni to question the commitment of a player who had switched his allegiance cross-border at the age of just 16.

Once again, last summer, there was a suggestion that Wilson knocked back another call-up when a defensive injury crisis hovered over the Ireland squad in the run-up to Euro 2012. His latest pull-out was for the August friendly in Serbia.

Now that he’s finally reported for duty ahead of Friday’s opening World Cup qualifier in Kazakhstan, the player was last night more than willing to outline his side of the story.

“The manager rang at the end of last season to say he was going with the squad that got him to Poland,” he said. “Of course, I wasn’t happy at not being selected but I appreciated the call.

“Then, two weeks down the line there was another call. My girlfriend was going into hospital and was on her own. There was no-one else around to take care of her, I said to the manager ‘sorry I can’t’ and he understood.”

Surely his absence from the Serbia game just three days before he lined out for Stoke justified the perception that he wasn’t keen on international football? “That perception is not accurate or fair,” he asserts. “Last season I took injections on my ankle injury to get through 10 games. I was struggling and the rest in the summer helped me feel a lot better.”

Wilson added: “I thought I’d have got more caps by now but it just never happened. Deep down that did upset me a bit. I’m delighted to be here now and ready if called upon.”