Hayes delighted with first senior call-up

Jonny Hayes is one of four uncapped players that have been named in Ireland managers Martin O’Neill’s squad for the upcoming friendly internationals against Switzerland and Slovakia.

Hayes has been a mainstay in the Aberdeen side that has challenged Celtic’s monopoly of the Scottish Premier Division this season. The Dublin born players’ season highlight actually came against Scotland’s dominant side as he scored against the Glasgow giants in their recent 2-1 victory.

The winger who is renowned for his technical ability and capable delivery was named by O’Neill in his original 40-man squad and has been retained by the manager following the axe of seven other provisional squad members.

Hayes admitted that he has been impressed with the standard within the Irish squad since joining up with the team.

Hayes said: “It wasn’t daunting but the standard of training was higher so it took a few minutes to get used to.”

The Dubliner commented about the relaxed nature that he felt in the camp ahead of what will be a very testing next few months for the team.

“It’s quite relaxed. I knew about a dozen of the players from before with being in England and with Irish underage teams.”

Jack Byrne was another uncapped player added to the Irish squad recently and Hayes revealed that Roy Keane was among those to make the pair feel welcome within the squad.

“The first few minutes in training myself and Jack had a kick around with Roy Keane and Steve Gubby so that set the tone for training so we knew what to expect.”

O’Neill praised Hayes during his meeting with the press and indicated that the winger could be in line to receive his first cap in either of the two games, but Hayes refused to allow the speculation surrounding his potential debut deter him from his task of leaving an impression on the coaching staff.

“It’s hard to tell. We have just been getting used to the squad. All you can do is try your best in training and see what effect you can have on the manager and if anything positive comes from it then you try to grasp it with both hands.”