DAVID MEYLER IS determined to draw a line under his injury nightmare by staking a claim for a place in the Irish first team.
The Sunderland midfielder joined international team-mates Robbie Brady and Paul McShane at Hull City last week after agreeing a loan until the new year.
The move was the latest positive step as 23-year-old Meyler breathes life back into a promising career stalled by two knee injuries which shelved his ambitions at club and international level.
The Cork native made his first Irish start in the Craven Cottage friendly against Oman in September, fulfilling a dream which was put on hold when his first cruciate injury forced him out of Giovanni Trapattoni’s squad for friendlies against Paraguay and Algeria in May 2010.
That first cap was ”a long time coming,” Meyler says. He’s on the bench for tomorrow night’s friendly against Greece, but if he gets a chance, he’s ready to grab it with both hands.
“The way I look at it, it’s down to myself. I’ve got to work as hard as I can and I’ve got to impress the manager. That’s what I intend to do.
It’s the pinnacle of any footballer’s career. It’s a great honour. You look at players like Robbie Keane, John O’Shea, Damien Duff, fellas who have done it for years, and that’s what a few of us young lads are trying to emulate.
Come Wednesday night, I’ll be dying to play and I’ll be desperate to play. It’s all I want to do.
Describing himself as a box-to-box midfielder — someone “who likes to get up and down, get on the ball, pass it around, win the ball back, do the dirty stuff and bring a bit of tackling in” — Meyler says he has benefited from the advice of someone who excelled in that role during his own playing days: assistant manager Marco Tardelli.
“Marco Tardelli played in that position for a long time and you can take great tips off him. Look at the successful career he’s had.
“Marco’s probably taken me to one side more than Mr Trapattoni. They both have taken me and shown me little things that I can improve on, what’s best for the team. They’re the little things that you need as a young, growing player.”
Meyler has made just one start under Martin O’Neill at Sunderland this season, but by going out on loan to Hull and linking up with former manager Steve Bruce again, he hopes to get the first-team experience that will help him to get back to where he once was.
“It’s mentally draining on anybody to be injured for such a long time. To spend nine months out injured, come back and then spend another nine months out injured, it’s hard work. It takes a lot out of somebody physically and mentally.
“It’s all behind me now. I’m back a good 14 months, and I’m just looking forward to playing as many games as I can and impressing as many people as I can — get back to where I was three years ago, playing week in week out in the Premier League.
“That’s exactly why I’ve gone to Hull. I’m probably at 85, 90% of my own fitness now and the next 10% will be gained from playing nine, 10, 11 games for Hull, getting as many games under my belt as I can. I’ll be looking forward to kicking on when I get back to Sunderland.”
