Defender reflects on his time on international duty
Ryan McGivern has spoken about getting back into the Northern Ireland fold over the last couple of weeks.The 26 year old centre half, who can also play at left back, was part of Michael O’Neill’s Northern Ireland squad for their World Cup Qualifier against the Czech Republic in Prague.
Ryan didn’t manage to get onto the pitch, but feels that the trip was a worthwhile experience.
“I was delighted to get back involved,” said Ryan.
“It was nice that the managers obviously seen that I’ve been back playing regularly and obviously doing okay to get called back in the squad.
“It was good to get back in the mix and obviously would have been nice to get on and get some game time, but one step at a time.
“I wasn’t expecting it. I knew I was on standby and then once I got the call on Sunday afternoon I was delighted.
“We we’re in Austria for five days in a training camp and then we just flew to Prague for the day of the game. It was intense training, but it was well worth it and we got a good result at the end of it, so it was a good week’s work.
“It’s a new campaign. There’s players that have dropped out of the squad with different reasons, retirement and stuff, and a few new players have been brought in as well.
“It’s time to roll the sleeves up and go again and try and do as well as we can in this World Cup qualifying campaign.”
Before his trip away, McGivern had started every game of the season and he believes his good form with Shrewsbury was the catalyst to getting back into the squad.
“We had a brief chat, he was asking about the club, about how things were going,” continued Ryan.
“I just told him everything’s been going well and I didn’t need to ask him much because he’s obviously had people watching.
“It’s just nice to know that those performances from the start of the season have got me back in the mix.
“I’m only back involved because I’ve been doing something well here for the manager to see and I knew as soon as the club were interested here that this was the club I was going to be coming to play for.
“I’ve always known that this would be the right move for me once I came and spoke to the manger and saw the facilities, and so far it’s looking like the right decision,” added McGivern.