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Eoin Toal has no complaints about pulling on the green of Northern Ireland in the midst of a promotion battle with his club in League One.
The Wanderers defender is expected to win his fourth cap on Friday in a friendly against Romania and will follow that with another outing at Hampden Park against Scotland on Tuesday.
All of that is before he returns to Lostock to prepare for a Good Friday game against Stevenage, where Bolton hope to reignite their chase for a top two spot.
With Northern Ireland warming up for their Nations League campaign later in the year, Toal wants to make every chance count to impress Michael O’Neill and remain a regular starter.
An injury to Jonny Evans means he is likely to start in Bucharest and though his international duties have deprived him the same sort of rest being afforded to some of his club mates, the centre-half says he is not concerned.
“I don’t want to step out of it in any way,” he told The Bolton News. “I want to keep going, keep playing games. I don’t really mind not having a break I’d rather just keep motoring on.
“I don’t want to take my foot off the gas at all at the moment. There is time for a little break in the summer so that’s when I can put my feet up and hopefully with a promotion as well.”
Toal won his first cap against Slovenia last October and is part of a new wave of younger Northern Irish players being integrated with a view to the 2026 World Cup qualifying.
The 25-year-old, signed from Derry City, has become one of Ian Evatt’s success stories at Wanderers and now hopes he can become a familiar face for his country in the coming years.
“I am starting to feel a real part of it now and playing here (at Bolton) most weeks has obviously helped,” he said.
“I don’t take it for granted. I know I have to work hard to be selected every time an international comes around but every time I get a cap, pull on the shirt for my country is a proud moment for me and my family.
“But I have been around the squad for a few games now and I just want to kick on and get as many caps as possible, really. Every one of them means a lot.”
Both Romania and Scotland will be playing at the Euros this summer, and Toal believes the friendlies should be a good yardstick for a side looking to rebuild.
“They are two great games to get going,” he said. “It wasn’t a great campaign, the last one, if we are being honest but with Romania and Scotland and then most likely two more friendly games in the summer it is a big help.
“It is a very young squad, so I think that can help us in the long-run.”
Meanwhile, Wanderers’ final game of the season at Peterborough United has been confirmed as a 12.30pm kick off, in line with the rest of League One.
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