Ross County midfielder Jackson Irvine insists being called up to the Australia squad can help him shine in the Premiership.
The 23-year-old collected his third cap when he made a late substitute appearance in Friday’s 2-1 defeat to England at the Stadium of Light.
The former Celtic playmaker is now hoping to be handed more game time by head coach Ange Postecoglou in the Saturday-Tuesday friendly double header against Greece.
Irvine, who helped County win the League Cup with victory over Hibs in March, said: “Originally it was a bit daunting, especially the first time I ever came in guys like Mark Bresciano were still in the squad and midfield has always been a very strong area for this team.
“But I think this is the first camp where I’ve really let go of that intimidation and just tried to embrace it and learn from these players.
“That’s probably the best thing about coming to these camps and being a part of it, is the fact that – not just being a part of the whole set up of the Socceroos – but to be able to play and train with these players and learn from them, and hopefully take that back to my domestic league as well.”
Jackson came on after 84 minutes against England but was not able to prevent the Socceroos from falling to defeat to Marcus Rashford and Wayne Rooney goals.
Speaking to FFA TV, he added: “Unfortunately we lost the goal early through a deflection, a bit of bad luck but I thought we dominated possession throughout the game.
“I thought we gave a really good account of ourselves and were probably unfortunate not to come away with anything from the game.”
