Cardiff City winger Gavin Whyte is on a mission to prove his worth to Northern Ireland's next manager ahead of the Euro play-offs.
Whyte made his breakthrough in green under former boss Michael O’Neill who stepped down from the national post four weeks ago.
And the talented 24-year-old is itching to impress O'Neill’s successor ahead of the planned resumption of international football in the Autumn.
Northern Ireland are scheduled to travel to Romania in the Nations League on September 4, with their Euro playoff in Bosnia reportedly pencilled in for October.
Speaking to Michael Clarke on The Score podcast, Whyte said: “Whoever does come in, I’m going to be treating it as a new guy I need to impress.
“I want to play as many games as I can for Cardiff and hopefully get the chance to do that. I want to play as many games as I can (for Northern Ireland).
“If I keep working hard, hopefully I can stay in the squad for years and years to come because I really like being a part of it.”
Whyte was “disappointed” not to get the chance to say goodbye to O’Neill in person and thanked the 50-year-old for showing faith in him on the international stage.
As well as handing him his debut, O'Neill selected the pacy forward for high profile Euro 2020 clashes with Germany and the Dutch.
“I loved Michael as a manager and I’m glad I got to work with him,” said Whyte. "I thank him for everything he has done for me.
“He gave me my debut and I probably played more than I expected."
Whyte revealed his mobile lit up for three straight days after scoring just 106 seconds into his debut in a 3-0 win over Israel at Windsor Park on September 2018.
“My phone didn’t stop for three days,” he said. “It was crazy but also really refreshing because you see how much support you have.
“I scored with my first touch after coming off the bench and it was the best night of my career. It is something that’ll be in my memory for a long time.
“I sort of have to pinch myself sometimes because it was a really big thing for me and now I’ve had the taste of it, I want to score more goals at Windsor Park.”
Whyte is equally eager to impress Cardiff boss Neil Harris when - or if - the English Championship returns to action in the weeks ahead.
The former Crusaders winger, who is set to return to training next week, had been warming the bench leading up to lockdown.
“Sometimes I’ve been playing, some weeks I haven’t," he said. "But it just goes to show how good our squad is and it really is hard to get that place.
“I’ve just got to work hard to impress the manager who has been great. The more I do that the more I have a chance of playing.”
