Brian Howard hopes his displays in Barnsley's dream FA Cup run could lead to a Scotland call-up.
Brian Howard hopes his displays in Barnsley's dream FA Cup run could lead to international recognition with Scotland.
The Tykes skipper has shone during the club's remarkable march into the FA Cup semi-finals, scoring a last-minute winner at Anfield against Liverpool before putting in another fine performance as Barnsley beat Chelsea 1-0 at Oakwell on Saturday.
Howard was born in Winchester and played for England's Under-20 side, but has Scottish parents and admits he dreams of representing Scotland at international level.
And speaking to
Goals on Sunday, he said he is getting closer to realising that ambition.
He said: "I would love to get a call from George Burley. I grew up a Scottish fan and was a big Glasgow Rangers supporter growing up.
"My dad's from Glasgow and I've stated before that I'd love to play for Scotland.
"They've checked it out and there's a few problems because I played for the England Under-20's and it was thought I maybe couldn't switch over and play.
"But I think they've sorted that out and George Burley and Archie Gemmill have been to watch so hopefully I'm doing the business and you never know what could happen."
Revenue
However, Howard hopes Barnsley's cup success will lead to more than personal glory and says the financial boost that the club will receive could be invaluable.
The Yorkshire outfit are not blessed with riches and the players even had to pay for their own tickets for Saturday's quarter-final clash.
"It's huge to get the revenue in," Howard added.
"Everyone knows it's not a huge club with a lot of money and the owner Patrick Cryne and Gordon Shepherd have done tremendous to get the players in that they've got.
"It's a decent club on the way forward and if we can finance it and get some players in then you never know what could happen.
"We had to pay for our own tickets for the Chelsea game, we got three free tickets each for our families and had to buy the rest.
"We shelled out from our own pockets and then tried to claim the money back from family and friends."
Winner
Howard also spoke to Chris Kamara and Paul Boardman about his famous last-minute winner at Anfield and revealed he would never have scored if it hadn't been for referee Martin Atkinson.
Howard felt he was denied a clear penalty by the official just seconds before he scored and said he would not have received the ball if he hadn't run over to Atkinson to argue.
"I don't know how the referee didn't give the penalty," Howard laughed.
"But I reacted to the second ball and I wouldn't have been in the position if I hadn't chased the referee for 20 yards to shout at him for not giving me a penalty.
"I'm quite happy he didn't give it because I'm not sure how nervous it would have been taking a penalty in the 93rd minute in front of the Kop!"
