International tour/Emmet Malonehears Cork City's Joe Gamble talk about the step up to international football

Prompted by manager Steve Staunton's decision to omit Liam Miller from a squad earlier in the year, Roy Keane's claim that players from Cork had to do that little bit more in order earn their place in the Republic of Ireland team always seemed to be undermined by the fact it was Cobh's Stephen Ireland who effectively took the Sunderland midfielder's place in the team.

Now, though, despite both players being absent, it's hard to avoid the southern accents around the cavernous team hotel on Boston's waterfront.

Joe Gamble, Colin Doyle and Alan Bennett are all there, having featured prominently in Wednesday night's draw with Ecuador at the Giants Stadium, along the game's goalscorer, Kevin Doyle, who passed through Turner's Cross on the way to establishing himself as one of the Premiership's fastest rising talents.

For some, Bennett's inclusion might have been seen as further evidence that the League of Ireland's better players had only to set foot off the plane in England in order to start being taken seriously by international managers. The centre half hasn't played a first team game since arriving at the Madejski Stadium in January and the 25-year-old had never worked himself into the international frame back at home.

Supporters of the league will also view Staunton's treatment of Roy O'Donovan's as having been harsh even if, as the manager has pointed out, he is rather well served in attack on this trip.

The late call-up of Cork City's Joe Gamble, though, shows the current management team is at least aware of the better players based in Ireland. However, the 25-year-old believes his chances over the long term of being seen as something more than a reliable fall back may depend on returning to England.

"It's a tough one, really," he says. "But I am ambitious and want to do well for myself. I'm not going to deny it, if a club came from England then I'd have to seriously consider it.

"It (his call-up) shows you don't have to be in as England as such but if you want to be in on a regular basis you might have to test yourself at a high level. I want to challenge myself a bit more. If it means me going to England to get a place in the Irish squad on a regular basis then I'd have to look at it."

Asked about his own views on where players should be playing if they want to impress him Staunton made no bones about his own preferences yesterday. "It's very difficult to judge what they're doing really when they're playing outside the Premiership because the standards elsewhere, whether it is in Ireland, America or even the second or third division in England, are so different to what they are there."

What is encouraging from the point of view of a player like Gamble is that players like his former Cork City team-mate Doyle and Sunderland's Daryl Murphy, once of Waterford United, have made the transition to big English clubs and made those left behind look a good deal more attractive in the process.

Stephen Hunt's development over the past couple of years is also another example of the welcome impact being made by players from outside the Irish capital.

Shane Long, like Bennett and Hunt, is also at Reading and so Gamble, who moved in the opposite direction three years ago after failing to establish himself at the then Championship club, is hardly overawed by the company he is keeping here in Boston.

"It's a fairytale story in many respects," he laughs. "A few years ago we were going for the league, me, Benno and Kevin. Shane was there too but he was young and not playing many games. The four of us played for Cork City at one stage and here we are playing in America in a stadium like that representing our country.

"Now, I understand I got drafted in because a lot of lads were taken out," he continues, "but I've played for my country so right now, I don't really care.

"It was the last thing I ever thought when I came back to Cork City, I could easily have just picked up my wage and had a good time. But I stuck at it, kept my head down and worked very hard. I've done well there and it just shows you can get a good break every so often.

"I'm delighted Steve gave me a chance to get a game, it was one of the proudest moments in my career and my life so it's something I'm going to cherish for a long time. But definitely, once you have a taste of it then you don't want to go back.

"I've been enjoying training all the week with the lads. I found it quite tough. The pace of it is faster compared to what I'm used to. I want more of it, I don't want to be in and out."

There may be a second appearance, perhaps a first start for Gamble in Foxboro this evening but he will, at the very least, take home a souvenir of his first outing for his country and he intends to put it where he will see it as he redoubles his efforts to become more than a summer-time international.

"It's going on the wall," he laughs. "My missus mightn't like it but she's no choice."