Harry Arter says the abuse he got from Roy Keane during their publicised training ground bust-up was disrespectful and "uncalled for".
The midfielder was accused of faking an injury by the then Ireland assistant manager during a 2018 training camp that Arter and striker Jonathan Walters sat out on the advice of the FAI's medical staff.
First revealed by Mirror Sport, more details of the explosive tirade by Keane towards both Arter and Walters then emerged when a Whatsapp message recorded by their teammate Stephen Ward giving his account of the row went public.
Arter would later step away from the international fold before returning and saying that he and Keane had ironed out their differences.
But reflecting on the incident now, Arter admits that he felt Keane was disrespectful and had gotten the wrong end of the stick.
“I regarded it as a lack of respect," Arter told Off the Ball. "Purely for no reason to be honest. At the time it was uncalled for. I’m not the sort of lad who would fake an injury and the ironic thing was it was in the middle of the summer.
“It was the middle of the off season, so if I was faking an injury I wouldn’t be sitting in a hotel. That’s the last thing I’d be doing.”
“Roy got it totally wrong with why he thought I was injured or maybe the injury itself. He didn’t realise the extent of what it was. I put it down now to a misunderstanding."
Since the row, Keane has argued that both Arter and Walters overreacted to his criticism and should have handled it differently.
But Fulham midfielder Arter feels he was never going to let someone accuse him of faking an injury.
“I know Roy has done a few interviews since and he’s named checked me and Stephen Ward and Jon Walters but it’s something I would never want to get involved in.
“It is what it is. I wasn’t prepared to let someone accuse me of faking an injury.
"If I was faking an injury, I wouldn’t be doing it on the off season when I could be on holiday. I would be on a beach somewhere.”
For Arter, who current Ireland manager Stephen Kenny has said he would be welcome back to the international setup, the spat with Keane is water under the bridge and he says it never affected his relationship with Martin O'Neill.
He added: “Me and Roy spoke about it about four or five months after and to me it’s finished.
“Martin gave me my debut when some managers wouldn’t. I was only playing in the Championship at the time, but I had a good season with Bournemouth, but I was so thankful for the opportunities he gave me.
“Some of my performances weren’t good enough but I felt a real belief in Martin towards me. For Martin to put his trust in me and put me in the squad, it is something I will always respect. I really enjoyed working with Martin.”
