Wednesday 30 August 2017 21:18, UK
Harry Arter believes he fully deserves to represent the Republic of Ireland despite being born in England, as Martin O'Neill's squad prepare to face Georgia and Serbia in crucial World Cup Qualifiers later this month.
The 27-year-old Bournemouth midfielder qualifies for Ireland through his Connacht-born grandparents, although he has won just six caps for his adopted country since first making his international debut in 2015.
Arter could win his seventh cap when Ireland face Georgia in Tbilisi on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Football, after being named in O'Neill's 25-man squad for this month's World Cup Qualifiers.
And while he admits he once felt like an outsider, Arter now believes he is a fully integrated member of the Ireland squad.
"When I was called up for the first time, I'd been at Bournemouth for seven years and coming to a new environment was different, let alone coming in with a group of players who had a different accent to me," Arter said.
"In an ideal world, a young lad grows up in Ireland, he comes through the ranks, through the Irish teams and plays for a local side and best case scenario, they move on to England or abroad and they do well and they get into the Irish senior side.
"If that was the case and there was an English-born player who had the same ability as him and the English player was picked ahead, I would see that as a little bit unfair.
"One thing I would say, though, is that I think as a country and as a management, they have got it spot on in the sense that they pick players in the end purely based on ability and if it is and an English-born player deserves to play, they play him."
Ireland head into this month's World Cup Qualifiers level on points with Group D leaders Serbia, although they hold a slightly inferior goal difference.
Georgia, meanwhile, are second bottom in the group after recording three draws and three defeats from their opening six games.
However, Arter is not underestimating Georgia ahead of this weekend's must-win match in Tbilisi.
"I've seen Georgia play a few times and I don't think they've got the results they probably deserved," he said.
"They're technically very good and it baffles me a little bit how they haven't got more points and been a little bit more successful."
