Jack Byrne claims he’s not even thinking about another Ireland call-up this summer - as that would be taking his eye off the ball.
Byrne was yesterday crowned SSE Airtricity / SWAI ‘Player of the Month for March’ after impressive displays for Shamrock Rovers were rewarded with international recognition.
He was drafted into Mick McCarthy’s squad for the opening Euro qualifiers against Gibraltar and Georgia despite not being named in the provisional panel.
Byrne impressed McCarthy after a man-of-the-match display against Sligo Rovers in Tallaght, during which he scored a screamer.
And while he was an unused sub in the double-header, McCarthy has been texting Byrne since in a clear sign that the playmaker is in the manager’s thoughts.
Ireland have a week-long training camp in Portugal in late May followed then by crunch Euro qualifiers in Denmark and home to Gibraltar in early June.
But Byrne is loathe to preempt his inclusion - a situation that would lead to club-versus-country headache for Hoops boss Stephen Bradley.
Byrne said: “I’m not looking that far ahead, it's miles away. I’ve been there before where you start looking ahead and you take your eye off the ball.
“The next thing you know you’re being taken off after 60-minutes as you're having a stinker on a Friday night.
“People (from the Irish management team) are watching the games so I need to keep playing well to stay in that squad.
“Coming home here, I haven't focused on anything else other than Shamrock Rovers and it's paid off.”
Byrne isn’t wrong - the Irish management team are watching him closely and assistant boss Robbie Keane was at the Hoops ‘Roadstone’ training ground yesterday.
That in itself is not unusual as Keane is a regular visitor there having previously trained with the Hoops and unofficially coached their strikers.
He’s also close to Rovers boss Stephen Bradley and Sporting Director Stephen McPhail, but his presence around the place will keep Byrne on his toes.
“It was a mad month and one I was very grateful for,” said Byrne of his award yesterday, insisting he did not feel out of place with the national team.
The former Manchester City youth continued: “Once training gets going all that goes out the window.
“I don't think people are looking and going 'League of Ireland'. If you do well in training you can hold your own and nobody cares what club you're at.
“The manager was good with me. In training he was pulling me all the time and giving me advice.
“It was nice to be around that quality of player. Sometimes I was playing on the right and I'd have Seamus Coleman behind me. Stuff like that was brilliant.
Liverpool fan Sean Cox speaks publicly for first time since attack in emotional message
“I enjoyed it and would have loved to come on and play. You'd want to be mad if you didn't want to get on the pitch.
“But you have players like Alan Judge and James Collins, the League One ‘Player of the Year’, who didn't get a minute on the pitch either.
“It's hard to say whether you've done enough to stay in contention.
“There’ll be players coming back from injury for the next squad but all I can do is keep my head down and try my best.
“The manager texted us and said well done which was really nice as he didn't have to do that. It was a personal text - a really nice touch.”
But ahead of tonight’s home clash with Waterford, Byrne must be quietly confident about McCarthy turning to him again ahead of the Denmark game in June.
“I don't think he called me up as a token gesture. I think he genuinely felt that I could make an impact - and so did I.
“You can't go on the pitch thinking I don't deserve to be here. I felt I could have helped the team if called upon and you have to be ready to step in.”
If you haven't already, be sure to like our Irish Mirror Sport and Irish Mirror GAA pages on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
