KASEY McATEER is determined to ensure that he cannot be ignored for neither club nor country.
The winger marked his first Ireland start with a goal against Senegal on Friday and is hoping to get another chance against Luxembourg tomorrow.
Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrímsson reckoned he caused ‘a stir’ with his performance and it has put him in the frame to feature in the World Cup qualifying campaign.
And he is determined to build on increased minutes for Leicester City after their relegation from the Premier League was confirmed.
McAteer is planning to stay with the Foxes despite interest from Sunderland, despite believing it can be sometimes harder for a player who has come through the ranks as he has done.
He said: “It doesn’t matter. That’s the plan.
“I mean, I’ve been at Leicester since I was eight years old, so I’d never turn my back on the club. It’s a club where I’ve grown, I’ve loved, I’ve supported.
“For now, I’m fully focused on Ireland. I’ll get away in the summer, get a holiday, refresh, regroup and start preseason for Leicester fighting and get us back into the Premier League, where we deserve to be.
“Recently I have been given the chance to play and I felt like I’ve grown every week.
“And you only get better playing football when you’re playing every week — that’s a fact.
“So hopefully I’ll keep getting games on my belt. Get back to pre-season, after our rest, and then, yeah, hit the ground running, hopefully.
“There’s a lot of senior players at Leicester and I respect that. Being home-grown sometimes it is easy to overlook players like myself but I’ve never stopped fighting.
I’ve kept banging down the door to get in the team.
“I got in the team, my first Premier League goal and a few good results. It wasn’t enough because we were already relegated but I can personally look back with a lot of pride.
“In the Championship there will still be 25 players in that squad wanting to play so I’ve to be fit and strong in pre-training. I know what levels I can get to at my best so they can see me at my best.”
McAteer was reluctant to be drawn on whether boss Ruud van Nistelrooy and his first-team coach Brian Barry-Murphy should be kept on.
The atmosphere around the club turned sour with the pair unable to spark an improvement in results following their arrival in December.
He said: “It’s not nice playing in a stadium when there’s a lot of animosity and boos. They pay their hard-earned money, watching us weekly home and away, but for myself it’s about taking it and learning.
“Whatever happens with the management is up to the club to decide. All we can do as players is back the manager who is in charge.
“The gaffer didn’t give up on us even when we were relegated. We all tried every week. As manager, we’ll fight for him so let’s see what happens in the future.
Brian is a top guy. I texted him on Thursday night to say I was starting. He said good luck and he’d be watching. It’s great to have a fellow Irishman at the club.”
Right now, the manager he is most concerned about impressing is Hallgrímsson having found himself in and out of the squad as his club fortunes fluctuated.
But, with Sammie Szmodics, Chiedozie Ogbene and Mark Sykes all absent, he staked his claim.
McAteer said: “I hadn’t started before and I got on the scoresheet. You want your name being thrown about in conversations around team selections. I wanted to create a ruffle. Hopefully I’ve done that.
“They’re all top players f but I know the qualities that I have. I need to believe in myself.
“Those are top players and friends of mine so we’ll all be pushing each other for a spot. Sometimes in this game, it can be everyone for themselves but I’m sure whatever happens the squad will be strong.
“The manager just said: ‘Play your game.’ I mean, I know at my best, I can hurt teams, and I tried to do that. I got some good balls down the side.
“Afterwards, in the dressing room, he said I’ve created a bit of a stir. So hopefully I can keep that going on and get myself in the starting XI.”
CLUB AND COUNTRY
On his previous omissions, he said: “It was explained to me that it’s because I’m not playing at my club, that obviously the boys who are playing for their club every weekend, they deserve to play for their country.
“And I understand that. Obviously I didn’t take it well, I wanted to be here. I want to play, play as many games as I can.
“I’ve regular contact with him, not just when squads are being announced.
“But when I’m not playing, when I am playing, to see how I’m doing and stuff. And that’s really good to get from a manager that’s obviously behind me wanting to do well.
“When the gaffer told me I was starting I was really, really happy. And I just hoped that I would prove my best to this team, and to get my first start, my first goal gives me massive confidence.
“Hopefully, I can take that in my stride and keep growing.”
His goal came after Matt Doherty and Dara O’Shea had gotten in each other’s way trying to get on the end of Will Smallbone’s corner before the ball was recycled by Nathan Collins with McAteer pouncing after his initial effort was saved.
He said: “I think it was flicked on by Nathan, I managed to keep myself onside, flicked it towards the goal. To be fair to the ‘keeper, he’s made a great save, but luckily for me, it’s rebounded back into my path.
“I just took the touch and thought: ‘Put my foot through the ball.’ That’s what I did. And, yeah, great to see that net bulge.”
McAteer had his back to goal for the rebound meaning he had to swivel before shooting but he shrugged: “I knew if I got the touch right, I’d be shooting in a nearly empty net.
“There was too much pace on it for the defender to keep out of the goal. So yeah, I’m really happy.
“My Mum and Dad were here so it was good to see them score my first goal on my first start. That’s a moment that I’ll cherish forever and they’ll cherish forever, no doubt about that.”
