Whelan: I don’t want this to stop

FOR anyone inclined to dismiss the significance of an end-of-season training camp, a word with Glenn Whelan should give them cause to reconsider.

A mainstay of the Trapattoni era, the Dubliner came relatively late to international football when the Italian summoned him to his inaugural training camp in Portugal two years ago.

“I think it was different for me coming in to the squad because while it might not have been my only chance it was a little make-or-break for me,” the 26-year-old reflects. “I had to try and take this opportunity while I could.