Stoke City: Lawrence keen to make good impression on national manager
STOKE star Liam Lawrence is confident that his call-up to an Irish trial game will provide a gateway to Ireland's World Cup qualifying campaign.
Lawrence is one of 22 fringe players selected for a Dublin friendly against Nottingham Forest on October 9 – six days before Ireland entertain Cyprus in their next qualifier.
"I'm looking forward to it and I've got a point to prove," says Lawrence, who qualifies through an Irish grandparent.
"I really want to get back into the proper Irish side and show what I can do. It means everything to me. It's everybody's dream to play for their country and I just want to be given the chance."
Lawrence has sat on the bench during a senior international, but never yet taken to the pitch in the famous green of his ancestor's homeland.
And next month's friendly will give new Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni his first close-up glimpse of the 26-year-old Nottinghamshire-born winger.
"I will be quite nervous meeting him for the first time," Lawrence confesses, "because he's a legend in management, isn't he.
"I played well last season, but never got a look in. Now I've just had a couple of poor games and got called up." He admits his form has dipped recently after a bright start to his second campaign as a Premier League player.
"I can't put my finger on why, but in the last couple of games I have been poor. You can't play 50 games in a season and be good in all of them, but I expect better than that after setting myself high standards.
"But I will come good and I'm determined to do that this weekend, if selected against Chelsea.
"I'm always confident in myself that I can pull something out of the bag, whether it's the first minute or the last minute of a game."
Other international call-ups next month during Stoke's two-week break from league action include Thomas Sorensen for Denmark, Ricardo Fuller and Demar Phillips for Jamaica and Senegal trio Salif Diao, Abdoulaye Faye and Ibrahima Sonko.
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