Daniel Cleary laughs at how new Ireland recruit Jack Byrne quickly ended his career as an aspiring midfielder.
But the Dundalk centre-back is deadly serious when he says other League of Ireland players should want to follow him into the international squad.
Ex-Liverpool man Cleary has been crowned SSE Airtricity / SWAI ‘Player of the Month’ for August after an impressive time of it for the relentless Lilywhites.
And he is gearing up for tomorrow’s EA Sports Cup final at the sold-out Brandywell when Dundalk put their treble claims on the line against Derry City.
But the Dubliner was thrilled for his old pal Byrne after watching him win his first senior cap in an impressive display off the bench in Tuesday’s friendly success over Bulgaria.
And quizzed on others following Byrne’s lead, Cleary said: “Why shouldn’t we think that?
“Jack is an unbelievable player. I’ve known him since he was seven years of age and I always knew he had the talent to play for Ireland.
“There are good players in our league that can play in that team but I don’t know what it is, maybe people look down (at the league).
“But Jack showed he has the quality to play for our international team and there is definitely the quality here.”
Cleary continued: “Me and Jack and have known each other since we were about seven.
“I played for Crumlin and he played for Kevin’s and that was the biggest rivalry in Dublin at the time. We were just kicking lumps out of each other.
“I used to play midfield and I’d just run around after him, I couldn’t get near him. Then I moved back to centre half, so he ended my midfield career!
Cleary would love to don the green shirt himself one day and won’t give up on that dream having become a key man in Dundalk’s team.
The 23-year-old - signed by Stephen Kenny - continued: “When I came home, I wouldn’t say I was struggling but I only found a club five days before the season started.
“That shows how far I’ve come in 18 months. We won a double last year and hopefully I can do better this year, but I never stop believing.
“Why can’t someone else play for the international team? Graham Burke did it last year, Jack has done it this year, Andy Boyle too.
“That’s proof that the quality is there, it’s just getting the opportunity. There are young lads coming through who are exciting and hopefully will get the chance as well.”
But first and foremost, Cleary is focused on delivering the first trophy of what he hopes is a domestic treble.
“Last year, the EA Sports Cup got away from us in the semi-final,” he added.
“We won the double and we were kicking ourselves thinking “we should have won the treble. Definitely this year, we’re looking at getting the trophy back.”
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