Clifford chuffed by senior call-up

CHELSEA midfielder Conor Clifford thought his Under-21 boss Noel King was joking with him yesterday when delivering the news of his senior call-up.

19-year-old Clifford was taken off at half-time in last night’s 2-1 win over Austria to allow him link-up with Giovanni Trapattoni’s squad for tonight’s meeting with Croatia.

“I thought Noel King was winding me up,” said the playmaker, who had loan spells with Plymouth Argyle and Notts County last season.

“He is always having a bit of a laugh. He said to me: ‘Trap wants you’. My first words to him were ‘you’re having a laugh’.”

Despite the nature of the message being relayed to him, Clifford is deadly serious about trying to win his first full cap at the Aviva Stadium tonight.

He said: “It’s going to be a good experience. I just found out about it a few hours ago. I can’t wait to get there and meet the lads.

“Hopefully I can get a run-out but if not it’s still good to be a part of it. It has definitely come sooner than I thought but that’s football; you never know what’s around the corner. I’m just delighted to even get a sniff — to be in and around those kinds of players.”

Following tonight’s game, Clifford plans to secure a loan move away from Stamford Bridge, possibly to Germany.

He said: “I’m looking to go out on loan as soon as I can. There are a few options there. I just have to sit down with Chelsea and my agent and see what the best option is. I’ll be out on loan for the season, as soon as I can.

“A lot of the Chelsea lads went on loan to Hamburg. Michael Emenalo (Chelsea’s Technical Director) stepped up and he had a talk with the reserve manager. They want to get me out as soon as possible on loan.”