Paul McShane reckons a new manager at Hull City might help his international prospects, writes EMMET MALONE

HAVING DRIFTED to the margins for both club and country, Paul McShane is hoping a change of manager at Hull City might pave the way to more regular Championship football and so provide him with a base from which to challenge again for a starting spot with the Republic of Ireland.

The 25-year-old is not critical of Hull boss Nigel Pearson but still feels if the former Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough star leaves to take over at Leicester City, as he is expected to in the next day or two, it might mean a fresh start for him at the KC Stadium.

Despite having finished up for the summer by captaining Ireland to victory over Italy, McShane has not kicked a ball for Hull’s first team this season and admits to being a little perplexed as to how it has all gone so wrong for him at the club.

Pearson, he says, was actually set to start him in the first game of the league campaign only for a calf strain to strike out of the blue. Since then, he says, it’s been a bewildering succession of minor setbacks, leaving the Irishman anxious to start anew.

“In pre-season I was feeling great,” he recalls, “but then it was as if there was a sniper in the trees who caught me in my calf. That’s football, you feel great one moment and the next you’re pulling up.

“Hopefully with a bit of luck I can stay injury free for a bit now, because it’s doing my head in, to be honest with you.

“Every time I get going again I get a little injury but hopefully I can shake them off, get a good run of games together and really push on.

“I was actually starting the first game against Blackpool and then that week I got injured. I was eight weeks out. I’ve come back and the lads have been unbeaten in Hull. I’ve just been sitting there and it’s been frustrating to watch; it’s right back again to where I was last season (a good portion of which he spent on loan at Barnsley).

“When I look around the Hull City team now I’m just thinking: ‘what am I still doing here?’ From the team that got relegated, it’s only me and I think Andy Dawson. I just want a good crack at it now whatever happens now in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully something will change. I just want a run of games.”

Pearson’s departure, which was widely expected in England yesterday, might, he feels, be the catalyst that helps to transform his fortunes.

“I just don’t know at the minute,” he says. “It’s a little bit in limbo but if a new manager comes in, hopefully everyone is on a clean slate. We’ll see what happens in the next few weeks.”

The prospect of Ireland qualifying for a major championship has only increased the sense of urgency surrounding his club career for he is keenly aware that competition for places would only increase between now and next summer if Estonia are beaten.

In the meantime, he says: “You can’t be feeling sorry for yourself, going around with a big mopey head.

“You’ve got to play your part whether you’re playing or not, train as well as you can and just be there for whatever happens because you could be called upon.

And if it doesn’t happen, he says with a grin; “You just go back to your room and cry on your own.”