Wilson ready to become central figure for Potters and Ireland

Marc Wilson breezes into the media room at Stoke City’s plush Clayton Wood training ground sporting an Easy Rider T-shirt and feeling every bit the man with a lot of road to travel and time to do it.

For starters, 12 caps by age of 26 is a measly return but his status as a mainstay of Ireland under the new management of Martin O’Neill offers encouragement that the upcoming Euro 2016 qualifying campaign will be his time to finally take centre-stage.

Club matters are certainly on the up too, his Stoke City side grooving towards their highest Premier League finish and points total since promotion to the top tier in 2008.