MARY HANNIGANtalks to the Yorkshire-born midfielder about his rapid rise up the Irish pecking order

IT’S EIGHT months now since Paul Green finally took his grandfather’s advice and wrote to the Football Association of Ireland to alert them to his Irish connections. The Yorkshire-born midfielder initially felt such an approach would be premature and a touch too bold.

Three caps later and, in the absence of the injured Keith Andrews, the 27-year-old is in contention for a place in Friday’s starting line-up against Armenia, in what would be his competitive debut.

Westport native Patrick Cottingham might be entitled to tell his grandson, “I told you so”.

The process was, Green said recently, “like something off Who Do You Think You Are?”, as the Derby club secretary helped him to gather the required documentation, including his grandfather’s marriage certificate, to prove his eligibility.

Since sending the letter?

“I haven’t looked back, really,” he smiled, admitting that international football seemed some distance over the horizon when he was a non-league player with Doncaster Rovers.

“When I was in the Conference and then in the lower leagues with Doncaster, I thought they’d never even have a look at me, so I didn’t think there was any point in making contact.

“But the higher I got, and with a season in the Championship under my belt with Derby, I thought I’d put my name forward and see what came of it.

“It’s all come pretty fast for me – getting called up to the training camp (in May), then getting 25 minutes against Paraguay, then a full game against Algeria, topping it off with a goal, then playing probably one of the four best teams in the world, Argentina. It was just fantastic.

“I really get on with my grandad, and he’s delighted about it. He used to come to a few of my games, but he can’t really get about as he’d like to now – if I’m on the telly, though, he’s watching.”

Whether his grandfather will see him line out for Ireland on Friday is down to Giovanni Trapattoni, but after training in Malahide on Monday the Italian spoke of his certainty that “Paul Green is ready to play”.

He wouldn’t, though, confirm whether Green or Darron Gibson would partner Glenn Whelan.

But Gibson, despite Alex Ferguson’s forecast last month that the 22-year-old would “play a big part this season”, has failed to even make the Manchester United bench so far.

In contrast, Green has played every minute of Derby’s four Championship games, and when injury kept Whelan out of the friendly against Argentina last month he was chosen by Trapattoni ahead of Gibson to play alongside Andrews.

The omens, then, would appear to be positive for Green.

“Yeah, of course, if I started against Armenia it would be a fantastic achievement for me, if I got the chance I’d be loving it. I’ve had a little taste of it and have loved every minute of it, it would be a great honour to play for the country in the qualifiers.”

Trapattoni, who clearly has taken a shine to the player since calling him up, talked admiringly this week of Green’s “aggression” in midfield.

“That’s my role really,” he said, “protect the back four and, when the ball does go forward, try to get the second bits. At club level, I’m more attacking, I play a different position, but the manager knows what he wants you to do and he sets that out for you. I feel comfortable with it.

“Probably the biggest lesson I’ve learnt so far is not to give the ball away,” he laughed. “I mean, in club football you can get away with it, but at international level you get punished. Definitely. And that’s something the manager drills in to us.

“Obviously his English is not that good, but he gets his points across, you know what he’s trying to say. He’s very positive, very organised, he knows what he wants.

“And the whole experience has been so positive for me. When I first came in, all the senior players shook my hand and things like that, made me really welcome. I felt comfortable around them and that’s the main thing, really – feeling comfortable. Otherwise you’re going to be a bag of nerves.”

No nerves at all? “No, no. Well, the only time I was a bag of nerves was the first time I came in and had to sing a song in front of the squad.”

The song? " The Wild Rover."

No, nay, never again, he vowed.