Harry Arter says missing Euros ‘not end of the world’

Republic of Ireland international midfielder Harry Arter has insisted that missing the European Championships due to injury is “not the end of the world.”

Thu, 09 Jun, 2016 - 01:00

Robin Edwards

Arter has had far bigger hurdles to overcome — most notably the loss of his stillborn daughter Renee.

He said: “Of course, there is going to be part of me that thinks, ‘I could have been playing’ but I am genuinely focused on the future. I’m not one to look back.

“I’ve dealt with a few hardships in my life and missing the Euros is not the end of the world.

“Thankfully, it’s a small injury which will be fine within the next two or three weeks.

“Missing the Euros feels no different to me than the disappointment I had at missing a league game last season. That is hand-on-heart true.

“What I love about my life is playing football and I hate missing out on any game, no matter what level it is.”

A calf problem cost Arter his place in France and he added: “I initially suffered the injury in training the day before the Holland game.

“I felt something in my quad but I thought ‘I’ll try and get through the game and, hopefully, it will go away’.

“I strapped my quad up quite tight, took some painkillers and got on with it. During the game it didn’t feel too bad and the next day it felt okay.

“Over the weekend I was hoping it would pass.

“I knew there was a slight problem but I thought it was maybe just a little twinge.

“Unfortunately, on the Monday, I came to the realisation it wasn’t going to go away.

“There is massive disappointment and the realisation I am going to miss the tournament through injury. But when I think about my career as a whole, I feel very privileged to be in this position.

“I know there is so much more to come from myself.

“It gives me a lot of confidence to even be able to say that I just missed out on the Euros with an injury.”

Arter will now back the team from the sidelines and he said: “I will watch it with the same sort of excitement I always have.

“Everyone loves when the Euros are on.”