The Leeds United midfielder has impressed in the Championship this season.
Whites ace Eunan O’Kane sat down for an exclusive interview with the Yorkshire Evening Post, and shared the advice given to him by Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill.
The 27-year-old joined Leeds from Bournemouth in the summer of 2016, and has since seen his opportunities to play for his country blossom, what with the regular football that he is playing at Elland Road.
The cultured midfielder has played in all but one of the west Yorkshire outfit’s 16 Championship games so far this season, and has impressed with his levels of consistency.
His fine form has seen him rewarded with a call-up to the Irish national team, and that has to be down in no small part to the fact that he is playing week-in, week-out under Thomas Christiansen.
And O’Kane shared how Martin O’Neill told him that playing regularly for Leeds is far more conducive to his hopes of earning a place in the Ireland squad than it would be warming the bench for a Premier League club, when speaking to the Yorkshire Evening Post:
“I always say the reward is going to play for your country but you have to put the shift in here, you have to be playing here and doing well. Hopefully the way things have been going for me personally in terms of minutes and me playing every game will continue. The manager at Ireland, Martin O’Neill has alluded to it before where if you are in the team and playing at your club and playing then it’s better than being in the Premier League and sitting on the bench every week.”
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If Ireland do go on to qualify for the World Cup in Russia, O’Kane’s chances of earning a place in the squad will be dependant upon his form for Leeds over the course of the season.
And if he continues playing like he has been this season, he has every chance of doing just that.
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