Kilbane happy to reach milestone

Kevin Kilbane will make his 50th consecutive competitive appearance for the Republic of Ireland tomorrow night insisting he has simply been lucky.

The 31-year-old Wigan defender is in line to win his 90th senior cap at Montenegro’s Pogorica City Stadium having braved a fractured cheekbone to take his tally to 89 against Georgia at the weekend.

But it is his consistent availability which has marked him out over recent years.

Only England legend Billy Wright and Greece’s Theo Zagorakis can boast longer unbroken runs in competitive games, although Kilbane, in his typically modest way, played down the achievement.

“I’ve been very lucky because I’ve been able to play in a couple of positions over the campaigns,” Kilbane said.

“At times, I’ve just been able to fill in, and that’s been pretty much it, to be honest with you. Sometimes, I probably wouldn’t have played if injuries had not affected the different positions.

“I suppose I’ve just been there and been able to take my chance at every opportunity that has arisen.”

That, of course, is only a fraction of the story of a man who made his senior international debut against Iceland back in 1997.

His first cap came 11 years to the day before Saturday’s 2-1 win over Georgia in Mainz, a game in which he played with a protective mask over his facial fracture.

Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni was hugely impressed not only by Kilbane’s willingness to join up with the squad two days after undergoing surgery to repair the damage, which he suffered in Wigan’s 5-0 win at Hull, but his determination to play.

However, after speaking to the surgeon who carried out the operation last Sunday and club boss Steve Bruce, he had little hesitation in declaring himself fit and available.

Kilbane said: “The club doctor was just a little bit wary about me playing with a broken bone so soon but Steve Bruce – I think he played with 20 broken bones – just said to me ’look, be careful’.

“He said he wouldn’t have a problem with me playing in the game as long as everything was done right.”

Only Steve Staunton and Niall Quinn have won more senior caps for Ireland that Kilbane, who went ahead of Tony Cascarino at the weekend, with 102 and 91 respectively.

He will surely overhaul his former international boss Staunton if he makes it to the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa and admitted that retirement is not yet something that has crossed his mind.

But he knows he is closer to the end of his career rather than the beginning, and is determined to make every moment count.

“I still feel fit and I still feel able to play,” Kilbane explained.

“I think it’s quite young to be thinking about it. I’ve genuinely not felt as though I’ve wanted to [retire].

“It might be a bit of stupidity, I don’t know sometimes, but I just feel fit and able to play and, hopefully, if I’m picked in the squad and team, then I can continue.

“I’ve said that I’ll probably see out the campaign and see what happens then. I’m not making any sort of decisions just yet, but I still feel good, still feel able to play.

“We will just wait and see when it comes up. Hopefully, first and foremost, we can qualify and then the decisions can maybe go hand in hand.”

In the meantime, even a man with so much football behind him admits he is relishing the chance to work under one of world football’s most experienced and successful managers in Trapattoni.

“I’ve worked with some very good managers, but I’ve never worked with a manager who has a pedigree like him,” Kilbane added.

“When the appointment was made, I think everybody was really looking forward to coming in and working with him.

“When you have the time with him day to day, he’s fantastic. He’s such a good guy to work with and we certainly seem to have benefited straight away.”