Bournemouth's Harry Arter made his International debut in a friendly with England way back in June 2015. Despite this; injuries and a personal tragedy have stalled his progress on the International fold and the midfielder still remains available to play for England having not yet played a competitive fixture for the Republic.
Nonetheless the London born
midfielder is eager to kick-start his International career with the boys in
green stating “I am 100 per cent
committed to Ireland" despite receiving threatening abusive messages
on social media once rumours of switching to England began to circulate on
line.
After suffering the devastating
loss of his first child to stillbirth in December 2015, Arter suffered stress
which contributed to a series of physical issues seeing him limit his playing
time for both club and country, resulting in him missing out on a place at Euro
2016, further delaying his competitive debut in the green jersey.
England midfielder and
Bournemouth teammate, Jack Wilshere was quick to praise his fellow teammate having
liked what he has seen from the player so far this season.
"If he wants to, I’m
sure he could go on to bigger clubs"
“He is
definitely up there with some of the midfielders I’ve played with,”
“You
turn and he is there. You think you have beaten him and he comes back at you,
so it is horrible to play against.”
It is now time for Arter to establish himself in Martin O’Neill’s
first team plans and become the player Wilshere feels he can be.
His fine form this season has been a highlight added with
the welcome news the Arter’s are now expecting again which the midfielder feels
can help them move on from the tragic events of last December.
Speaking to the BBC on Football Focus Arter spoke of the year that changed his life
forever:
“Unfortunately,
I feel in everyone’s life there will come a point where you start to see things
a little different and for me, it took something so tragic for me to see that,”
“It
has changed my personality. I was pretty open with the situation and in a way
that helped me grieve. At that point, I had never lost anyone in my family and
I didn’t understand how to grieve.
“I
had people messaging me saying they had been through the same thing and how
thankful they were that I came out and spoke about thinks.
“If
I can help one person feel 1% better, I’ll talk all day about it.”
Settling the concern over his availability for both
England and Ireland will also help the player focus on his commitments to both
his club and his country of choice.
Ireland have lacked a tough tackling midfielder since the
Roy Keane days and now O’Neill must trust Arter to be that man to fill the void
left by the Cork man. Getting the opportunity to learn from the assistant
manager will only aid his development for both club and country.
Arter spoke of his form this season and how playing week
in week out with Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere has helped him continue to progress.
“I’m
feeling confident, I’m feeling fit,” he added. “The previous year, I was
playing catch up the whole year and results have picked up as well.
“It
was my first season in the Premier League and I was not fully fit for periods,
so it took some time to adjust.
“I’m
really enjoying playing with Jack Wilshere in midfield. It was a shock we got
him here, but he has been brilliant so far.”
This month’s World Cup Qualifier is the perfect
opportunity for O’Neill to include Arter in his side once and for all and end
any talk of switching to England.
The 26 year old has once again been called up by Martin O’Neill
for the crucial match in Vienna on November 12th.
With Everton’s
James McCarthy struggling for full fitness it could be the perfect time for O’Neill
to start the Cherries midfielder, in turn kick starting his International career
and make England rue the day they overlooked the London born midfielder.
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