Dara O'Shea issues update on club future amid Premier League interest as he details Kieran McKenna talks
IRELAND defender Dara O'Shea is preparing for the Championship — even though he knows he is Premier League class.
SunSport revealed last week there is interest from
Ipswich do not want to lose him a year after
And the Tractor Boys are believed to be ready to offer him an improved contract with no relegation release clause.
O'Shea has already spoken to Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna about going back to the Prem.
Read more on Irish football
He said: 'I'm not going to think about it until the season ends and I've got one more game to focus on and then I can sit down and relax.
'But I'm fully committed to Ipswich at the moment.
"I've got another four years there and I want to get the club back into the Premier League.
'I'm ambitious as a player. I want to be playing in the Premier League but I know it's not as easy as that.
Most read in Football
'Whatever happens in football happens for a reason. You have a journey and you've got to stick to that sometimes.
'I feel like I'm well capable of playing in the Premier League and competing.
England's biggest divers of the season crowned... as shocking record revealed
"Obviously it's hard when you get relegated and I've got to get myself back there now.
'It's going to be a tough season next season but I think we've got more than enough to get back there.
'I think it doesn't matter where I am next season.
"I've got to still play like I'm a Premier League player. That's the main aim for me.
1
The Dublin native has Ireland duty to focus on before he makes crucial decisions on his future
"I've spoken to the gaffer and that's the task he set for me. He wants me to carry on the standards of a Premier League player.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
40 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Mark English moves into world-class territory as he lowers Irish 800m record
Mark English became the first Irish athlete to break the 1:44-barrier in the 800 metres as he clocked 1:43.92 to win the FBK Games in the Dutch city of Hengelo on Monday evening. At age 32, it's shaping up to be the season of his life as English once again displayed all his racing experience to take the win on the latest stop on the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series. His 1:43.92 improved his previous best of 1:44.34, set when winning the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Bydgoszcz, Poland last Friday week. Last summer, he'd improved the Irish record to 1:44.53, and is now running in properly world-class 800m territory. Sitting in third coming into the homestretch, a few metres down on Peter Sisk from Belgium and Yanis Meziane from France, English coolly kicked past them both in the last 50m. Meziane held on for second in 1:44.32, with Craig Payton from Australia given the same time in third. Sisk faded right back to seventh. READ MORE After pacemaker Simon Mohlosi took them to the bell in 49.20, a fast time was clearly on. English bided his time, however, the Donegal athlete keeping his finishing kick until it mattered most. English won his fifth European medal back in March, taking bronze at the European Indoors in Apeldoorn, adding to his two outdoor medals, and another two indoors. Over the winter English moved to Australian coach Justin Rinaldi, and continues to take a break from his medical career. He'd already run well inside the automatic qualifying standard for the Tokyo World Championships of 1:44.50, and in this form will certainly fancy his chances of making the final when those championships take place in September.
The 42
41 minutes ago
- The 42
GAA confirm All-Ireland SHC and Tailteann Cup fixtures next weekend
NEWBRIDGE WILL HOST a double-header next Saturday afternoon after the GAA confirmed the fixtures for the All-Ireland SHC preliminary quarter-finals and Tailteann Cup quarter-finals. The Kildare hurlers will host Dublin at 4pm, after their historic Joe McDonagh Cup success yesterday, with the Kildare footballers taking on Offaly afterwards at 6.30pm. The other hurling fixture on Saturday sees Laois host Tipperary, a curtain-raiser to the Roscommon-Cork game in the All-Ireland senior football championship. Advertisement Fermanagh will face Sligo in the Tailteann Cup on Saturday, while in the same competition there will be quarter-finals on Sunday with Wicklow playing Westmeath and Limerick taking on Wexford. ***** Saturday 14 June All-Ireland senior hurling preliminary quarter-finals Laois v Tipperary, Laois Hire O'Moore Park, Portlaoise 1.45pm – GAA+. Kildare v Dublin, Cedral St Conleth's Park, Newbridge, 4pm. Tailteann Cup quarter-finals Fermanagh v Sligo, Brewster Park, Enniskillen, 5pm. Kildare v Offaly, Cedral St Conleth's Park, Newbridge, 6.30pm. ***** Sunday 15 June Tailteann Cup quarter-finals Wicklow v Westmeath, Echelon Park, 1.15pm – GAA+. Limerick v Wexford, TUS Gaelic Grounds, 3.45pm – GAA+. **** * Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
The 42
41 minutes ago
- The 42
Ireland boss urges players to be excited by progress but demands no drop off against Luxembourg
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND boss Heimir Hallgrimsson has encouraged his players to be excited by the progress they have made as they prepare for a new World Cup qualifying campaign. Ireland will bring down the curtain on this season's fixtures with a friendly in Luxembourg on Tuesday evening knowing that when they next meet up in September, it will be the hard currency of qualification points which will be at stake against Hungary and Armenia. They go into the game having won four and drawn one of the nine matches they have played to date under Hallgrimsson and the Icelander, who helped guide his native country to the quarter-finals at Euro 2016 courtesy of a famous last 16 win over England, believes they have established a momentum. Asked about replicating that excitement with Ireland, he said: 'I think it comes automatically. It comes because we are growing as an unit. 'It comes because we are saying the same thing over and over again – probably boring for the players to listen to because we are saying the same thing over and over – and I have said before, basics first before details. Basics before details. Advertisement 'The excitement comes from that. We can feel that we are growing every time we play, like how comfortable we were against Senegal. 'That's one step taken. We can have the same against Luxembourg, so it shouldn't be up and down performances, it should be consistent performance. That is what we need.' Friday night's 1-1 draw with Senegal, who are ranked 41 places above Ireland by FIFA, in Dublin was a creditable result, but Hallgrimsson and his players would dearly love to go into the competitive games with a another victory under their belts. However, they know from painful experience that Luxembourg are no longer the push-over they once may have been having lost 1-0 to Luc Holtz's men in a World Cup qualifier at the Aviva Stadium in March 2021. Hallgrimsson, who has drafted Stoke defender Bosun Lawal into the squad, said: 'They have shown in the past how quickly they have developed as a football team. 'They have had the same coach for a long time, really consistent in team selection, so it's more like playing a club team. Their knowledge of the team and each other is really at a high level. 'I watched the Sweden game when they played here – they beat Sweden 1-0, they could have scored more goals against Sweden. I know a little bit about them, and the strength of Sweden, so I wouldn't look at it as a shock to the nation if we would not get a good result here. 'It's that good a team that a win here would be really good for us at this stage. I hope nobody is taking them lightly, if that is the right word to say.' That said, that night in Dublin was a dark one for Irish football and then manager Stephen Kenny – they won the return 3-0 to restore a measure of wounded pride – although defender Nathan Collins does not want to dwell on the past. He said: 'It's just football, isn't it? football changes, people change, managers change, teams change and you just have to reflect on that. 'It is about what works for us now, and we can't have that on our mind. We are here with fresh faces, it is a fresh game, it is a new game.'
