Is there now a question mark over Paddy’s Irish future?
Paddy Lane’s absence from the latest Northern Ireland squad has been explained.
Boss Michael O’neill has revealed the Pompey winger declined the opportunity to be involved in the forthcoming games against Spain and Andorra as ‘he felt he’d benefit from not being involved’.
Lane’s omission from the 26-man party that will travel to Mallorca and Murcia for the friendlies next month came as a surprise given the role he played in the Blues’ League One title success.
The 23-year-old was a mainstay of the team that secured the league crown and promotion back to the Championship as he contributed 12 goals and seven assists from 42 thirdtier appearances.
That earned Lane his first cap for Northern Ireland in 19 months when he started the 1-1 draw with Romania in Bucharest in March.
But the chances of the Fratton favourite adding to his four international caps could now be in jeopardy following his decision to opt out of the games scheduled for June 8 and 11 respectively.
Revealing the stance of Lane and the potential consequences of that decision, O’neill revealed: ‘I only had one player, Paddy Lane, who said he felt he’d benefit from not being involved,’ said O’neill.
‘My argument to that was “Well, that won’t benefit you going forward because you need to commit to international football. You have to be part of the group, come into the squad and establish yourself in the squad, then try to establish yourself in the team.”
‘We’re looking for that commitment from the players.
‘I recently went out to Belgium to watch Isaac Price (at Standard Liege) and he said “I can’t wait to come and join up in June”. That’s the attitude that you want from players coming into the squad.’
Lane’s last game for Pompey was on April 27, when he scored in the finalday win at Lincoln. Six weeks will have passed by the time Northern Ireland take on Spain on June 8. Meanwhile, that’s more than eight weeks after the Blues clinched promotion back to the Championship with victory against Barnsley on April 16.
That kickstarted the now famous ‘Pompey promotion party’ that Lane enjoyed and included a near week-long trip to Las Vegas by some players as John Mousinho’s men let off some steam following a highly pressurised season.
According to O’neill, though, readjusting both physically and mentally for June matches on the international front is something all top players accommodate in their lifestyles.