James McClean parks Wigan woes as he aims to put Ireland on right road

On Tuesday the Republic of Ireland player nominated to chat with the media was Harry Arter, much of the talk centring around top-of-the-Championship Bournemouth's exceptional season and the prospects of him winning promotion with them to the Premier League. A day later and it was James McClean, and the contrast was marked.

While Martin O’Neill spoke of Arter’s self-confidence in light of such a successful Championship campaign, McClean might be forgiven for turning up for international duty with morale less than high. The 25-year-old Derry man, though, insists Wigan’s struggles – they’re third from bottom of the Championship, five points adrift of safety – have not affected his self-belief.

McClean was speaking at Lansdowne Road yesterday where he sat out training again after limping out of Tuesday's session in Malahide. The injury update was positive, though, a scan on his left ankle showing that he just suffered bruising, and the player is hopeful he can train tomorrow and be "100 per cent fit" for Sunday's Euro 2016 qualifier against Poland.

Privilege

He could certainly do with the boost. “It’s not been the best season but coming here is a privilege and you just look forward to it,” he said. “You put your club situation behind you. Obviously, when I go back to Wigan I’ll put this situation behind me too. It’s just the way it is – you focus on the job at hand.”

“But no, it hasn’t effected my confidence. Not at all, definitely not. I see myself as a focused person. I take each game as it comes so I’m just focused on the game on Sunday. The manager has been great with me, we have a really good working relationship. He has installed that confidence in me. I know when I’m playing I’ve got his full backing. He was great during my time at Sunderland and that has carried on to here. Hopefully I can repay him and everyone else, if selected.”

Focus, though, can’t have been easy around transfer window time when Celtic, Hull City and Derby County all showed an interest in signing the player after a bright start to the season, but Wigan told all parties he was not for sale, and that was that.

A difficult time? “Of course, but it’s important that you don’t get your head turned. There is a lot of speculation and you are hearing this or that. But the way it is with me, if there is nothing on the table then there is nothing to talk about. Basically there were a few phone calls but those phone calls got knocked back. That was the club’s decision. I wasn’t going to be a spoilt brat and knock on the door. I see myself as a very loyal person. We were in a dog-fight and I started the season there so I wanted to continue there and help them.”

But should Wigan be relegated to League One, then the situation is likely to change. "I'm no different to any player, I've got an ambition to play at the highest level and League One ain't that. If we stay up or go down, you never know what's around the corner in football. You never say never. We will just have to assess it come the end of the season, regardless."

Terrible season

“I’ll call a spade a spade: it’s been a terrible season. There is no getting away from that. We have a chance to stay up so we have got to make sure that we treat every game like the old cliche, like a cup final. That’s just the way it is. Hopefully we’ll have a good week here and I can go back and take that in to club form as well, because it is going to be needed.”

While Wigan have been using McClean upfront recently – “I’m actually enjoying it, it’s a new role and a new learning experience for me” – he’s unlikely to be used in the same role should O’Neill give him the nod for Sunday. He may even be called upon to slot in for left back Stephen Ward, who remains an injury doubt.

Asked to play

“If I’m asked to play anywhere, I will. Anyone will say that. You just want to be in the starting line-up. So, if I’m called on to play left back, I’ve played there before, so why not?”

“And it’s a massive game. Considering we lost the last game to Scotland, this is a must-win. There is no getting away from it, it wasn’t the result we wanted and it wasn’t the performance we wanted in Glasgow, but if we can pick up the three points against Poland, on Monday morning the table will be looking a lot better for us.”