Stephen Ireland has said he will consider a return to international football under the next Ireland manager, according to report in the Irish Times.

Ireland hasn’t played for Ireland in six years as several attempts by Giovanni Trapattoni to bring the midfielder back into the squad failed.

Ireland said he would be happy to meet with whoever the next Ireland manager is: “I think I would like to get together and have a chat and try to put everything on the table, put across ideas and just have a good general chat.

“If nothing comes out of it, nothing comes out of it, but I think it would be nice just to have a chat,” he said.
Ireland has recently joined Stoke City on loan from Aston Villa.

“First and foremost it is just Stoke City on my mind.

“I need to get 10, 15, 20 games under my belt first and see how I go with that.

“Then maybe I might get in a position where Ireland want me to play and we could have a further conversation.

“Right now, all that is on my mind is Stoke, getting fit and getting 90 minutes under my belt and getting as many games as possible.”