Sunderland midfielder is hoping to get his career back on track after two serious injuries, writes EMMET MALONE
BY THIS stage in his career David Meyler should have his fair share of highlights to reflect upon but as he prepares to travel away with the Republic of Ireland team for the very first time this morning he is, in more ways than one, still waiting for take off.
The 23-year-old only seriously committed himself to the game ahead of either Gaelic football or hurling back in 2008 when Sunderland, then managed by his boyhood hero Roy Keane, were coming to Cork and he had to choose which of two games to play in on the night in question.
Almost before he knew it, he had moved to the Stadium of Light and, it seems, destined for big things under a manager who had taken quite a shine to him. Fate intervened, though, in the form of two knee injuries either of which might have ended his career.
Instead, they merely combined to delay his progress and having edged his way back into the margins of the first-team picture under Martin O’Neill he is hoping that some sort of involvement with Ireland during the next week will, after such serious setbacks, mark another significant step forward.
“Obviously they were two big moments in my career, defining moments and I have learned so much from being injured. You learn about mental toughness from suffering setbacks like that. And to work that bit harder than everyone else just to get that bit of fitness.
“I went to America for two weeks and worked on the strength of my knees and they couldn’t be stronger at the moment thanks to all the medical staff at Sunderland. I knew that with the support I’ve had from the club, my family and everyone around me it would work itself out.”
Having made barely a couple of dozen appearances for his club in over four years the Cork man admits that his ambition now is simple: “I want to play as many games as I can.” It might be easier if he moved on but when he is asked if it has crossed his mind to seek first team football elsewhere he is unequivocal: “Never once,” he says.
His motivation is almost as straightforward with the young midfielder admitting that a burning desire to live up to his father’s expectations has always been a key factor in pushing him on.
“My father drove me here and there to games,” he recalls. “Getting his approval after games was the main thing, still is. He’s been my toughest critic since I was little. He’s only ever told me twice that he was proud of me, the first time was Sunderland reserves against Newcastle reserves, my first competitive game.
“Afterwards, we went to a restaurant and he said he was proud. The second time was when I came back from my injury the second time. To get his approval is tough.”
He might, you would like to think, complete the hat-trick over the coming week if he manages to make his senior international debut and with Giovanni Trapattoni stating again yesterday that he intends to give “the other group” a chance to play in the friendly against Oman in London next week, his prospects seem positive. “It would,” he says, “be the biggest moment of my career to play for my country; everything you dream of. It would be unbelievable after the two years I’ve had. To come back and play in a World Cup qualifier would be brilliant.”
That, to be fair, looks a long-shot; something he seems to acknowledge quickly enough by adding: “If I make the bench, I’ll be delighted.”
After that, it’s back to Sunderland where, in a sense, the real work resumes. “Obviously it’s up to myself,” he says. “If I want to get into the team every week I have to push myself and work harder and do better than everyone else around me. That’s what I’m aiming to do.”