Shay Given’s goal remains keeping place in Euro 2016 squad

The reminders are all around him, says Shay Given, when his age and the impending end to a wonderful international career are brought up.

If the point needed illustration, then it was provided by the fact that he arrived in to be interviewed accompanied by the Ireland squad’s newest member, Callum O’Dowda. O’Dowda had to yet to turn one when Given was making his senior debut as goalkeeper for Mick McCarthy back in March 1996.

Now, at 40, he is hoping to squeeze one more championship in before he finally has to call it a day. Not that he appears to be in any sort of hurry as he is keen to see through the second year of his contract at Stoke next season. However, he admits that Russia in 2018 is almost certainly out of reach.

“I’ve had a fair run at it, I suppose, but I still feel I have something left to give. That decision is obviously taken out of my hands in terms of who goes, but I’d like to think I can do enough over the next week to ten days to show that I should go,” says the Donegal man.

A lot depends on how this week pans out and how the Dutch game at the end of the week goes because his season with Stoke has entailed a succession of setbacks since he hurt his knee while playing for Ireland against Germany last October.

Second operation

That a chipped bone would require surgery was pretty clear from the outset. But his recovery didn’t go to plan and the need for a second operation meant it was a close-run thing whether he would get any first team football before the end of the league campaign. Even when he did, an unconnected problem quickly sidelined him again.

Now, there is a hint of a guilty feeling about him as he talks about his inability to contribute more to Stoke’s campaign, but he believes the timing of his return is what matters and the fact that he played well against West Ham has clearly reinforced his own belief that he is worth his place on the plane to France.

“You can only go on your last game and in our last game of the season, I felt fine. I contributed to a good win for us and it’s nice to have given something to the club because I had a frustrating season with injury. It was just nice to play and nice to play well,” he says.

On the international front, Darren Randolph hasn't really looked back since coming on for Given against the Germans and Given readily acknowledges that the West Ham player has done stepped up impressively. Still, he believes he is a serious contender to start against the Swedes even if, as things stand, he is far from sure that he will even make it to the Stade de France.

Opportunity

“If I don’t play I feel I still have something to offer the group. I’m not sitting here saying I don’t want to play; I am desperate to play against Sweden, but if I don’t play, I will help Darren or Keiren [Westwood] or David [Forde]; whoever gets the nod. Anything I can pass on to the group I will, it’s about what’s best for Ireland and the team and I think I have lots to offer,” he says.

He will, it seems, get the opportunity at some stage during Friday’s game to prove it. If he pulls it off, then he will, whatever his age and the strengths of his rivals, be a difficult man for Martin O’Neill to leave behind in two weeks’ time.