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Keith Andrews does not know where his footballing future lies beyond this season.
The 33-year-old midfielder was loaned out for the season to Brighton in August but still has another year to run on his Reebok contract.
Things have generally worked out well for the Irishman, who has been one of Brighton’s best performers of the season to date.
But Andrews does not know whether he will be staying on for good at the Amex Stadium or whether he will be returning to the North West again in the summer.
“It’s been nice just to get games again on a regular basis,” he said. “I have had an operation, I haven’t been back in the Ireland squad, I have changed clubs and moved 250 miles away from my home, so it hasn’t all been ideal, but on the footballing front, I am just delighted to be injury free, I have been playing really well in the last few games for Brighton.
“With the role I play here at Brighton, a deeper role than I am maybe used to, it’s very enjoyable.
“I don’t know where my long-term future lies. I have another year left on my contract at Bolton after this season. All I know for now is that I am here at Brighton until the end of the season.
“I am really enjoying it down here, on and off the pitch, as it’s a lovely place to live and the people around the club are genuine. And the style of football really suits me.”
Andrews has also dropped off the radar for his country in recent times and was not named in the first squad selected by Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane.
The midfielder, voted player of the tournament for Ireland at last summer’s European Championships, has no plans to announce his retirement and is content to concentrate on club matters for now.
“It’s not up to me, I can only take care of my own business and play well for my club,” he said. “After that, it’s up to whoever is in charge of the Ireland team to decide what to do. If they decide to bring me in, even as a squad player, I am more than happy to do whatever Ireland wants.
“Everyone knows what it means for me to play for Ireland, so I won’t be coming out with any big statement about retiring from the international team, that will be someone else’s call as to whether I am asked back. If I am not in the plans of the new manager right away that would probably be it for me regarding Ireland.
“It’s hard for me to make too strong a case when you have lads like Glenn Whelan, James McCarthy, Darron Gibson all playing regularly in the Premier League. There is a difference between the Premier League and the Championship, I know that.
“I feel I deserve a place in the squad at least, to go from being such a big player in the team to not being in the squad, I did find that disappointing, I won’t lie about that. I was a bit hurt by that.
“You always have ups and downs in football and although I half-expected it to happen, given the age I am and with new players coming into the squad, I was disappointed.
“But you shouldn’t be surprised at anything in football and it’s the way things go; you look at the likes of Kevin Doyle and Stephen Hunt, who were so important to Ireland for a long time and next thing they’re not even in the squad.
“You see it happen and you’re not so naive that you think it won’t happen to you some day. I’m not on the same level as Damien Duff or Robbie Keane, so I can’t expect to be put up on some sort of pedestal. And if I never kick a ball for Ireland again, I will be more than proud of what I have achieved, especially as I was a latecomer to it and I thought that ship – international football – had sailed for me. So I was disappointed but also realistic.”
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The 33-year-old midfielder was loaned out for the season to Brighton in August but still has another year to run on his Reebok contract.
Things have generally worked out well for the Irishman, who has been one of Brighton’s best performers of the season to date.
But Andrews does not know whether he will be staying on for good at the Amex Stadium or whether he will be returning to the North West again in the summer.
“It’s been nice just to get games again on a regular basis,” he said. “I have had an operation, I haven’t been back in the Ireland squad, I have changed clubs and moved 250 miles away from my home, so it hasn’t all been ideal, but on the footballing front, I am just delighted to be injury free, I have been playing really well in the last few games for Brighton.
“With the role I play here at Brighton, a deeper role than I am maybe used to, it’s very enjoyable.
“I don’t know where my long-term future lies. I have another year left on my contract at Bolton after this season. All I know for now is that I am here at Brighton until the end of the season.
“I am really enjoying it down here, on and off the pitch, as it’s a lovely place to live and the people around the club are genuine. And the style of football really suits me.”
Andrews has also dropped off the radar for his country in recent times and was not named in the first squad selected by Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane.
The midfielder, voted player of the tournament for Ireland at last summer’s European Championships, has no plans to announce his retirement and is content to concentrate on club matters for now.
“It’s not up to me, I can only take care of my own business and play well for my club,” he said. “After that, it’s up to whoever is in charge of the Ireland team to decide what to do. If they decide to bring me in, even as a squad player, I am more than happy to do whatever Ireland wants.
“Everyone knows what it means for me to play for Ireland, so I won’t be coming out with any big statement about retiring from the international team, that will be someone else’s call as to whether I am asked back. If I am not in the plans of the new manager right away that would probably be it for me regarding Ireland.
“It’s hard for me to make too strong a case when you have lads like Glenn Whelan, James McCarthy, Darron Gibson all playing regularly in the Premier League. There is a difference between the Premier League and the Championship, I know that.
“I feel I deserve a place in the squad at least, to go from being such a big player in the team to not being in the squad, I did find that disappointing, I won’t lie about that. I was a bit hurt by that.
“You always have ups and downs in football and although I half-expected it to happen, given the age I am and with new players coming into the squad, I was disappointed.
“But you shouldn’t be surprised at anything in football and it’s the way things go; you look at the likes of Kevin Doyle and Stephen Hunt, who were so important to Ireland for a long time and next thing they’re not even in the squad.
“You see it happen and you’re not so naive that you think it won’t happen to you some day. I’m not on the same level as Damien Duff or Robbie Keane, so I can’t expect to be put up on some sort of pedestal. And if I never kick a ball for Ireland again, I will be more than proud of what I have achieved, especially as I was a latecomer to it and I thought that ship – international football – had sailed for me. So I was disappointed but also realistic.”
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