Ross County defender Callum Morris is keeping thoughts of earning a Northern Ireland call up for next month’s EURO 2020 qualifying play-off against Bosnia and Herzegovina on the backburner.
Morris, who was born in Newcastle, qualifies to play for Northern Ireland due to his father’s family coming from Belfast.
Although Morris remains uncapped, the 30-year-old has been included in several squads in recent seasons. The 30-year-old been assured of a starting place by manager Michael O’Neill for a friendly against Luxembourg in September, only to suffer a hamstring injury in training.
Although international recognition remains one of Morris’ goals, the defender is keeping his focus on the Staggies’ Premiership campaign.
Morris said: “I’m not really thinking about it to be honest.
“Any time I have been called up, it has been out of the blue, so I think I’m better off just concentrating on my job here, and if I’m doing well enough I’ve got a chance.
“It’s out of my hands, I’d rather concentrate on what I can do to help here.
“Obviously the focus is picking up as many points as possible now, with the split and then the run-in.
“It would be brilliant if I did get a call-up, but it’s not really a focus of mine at the moment.”
County are out of action this weekend having been knocked out of the Scottish Cup, however Morris insists Saturday’s 2-1 victory over former club Aberdeen will keep the Staggies’ camp upbeat in the coming days.
Morris added: “I think when you have got extra days off you’d rather be having them off the back of a win.
“It always means it’s a bit more of a buoyant changing room, training is always a bit better.
“Sometimes you can have a negative couple of days in training after a defeat where the boys are frustrated, and the next game can’t come soon enough to put it right.
“It has been good, we’ve got that positive result before the extra few days, but it’s still the same task in hand, it’s still the same goal – to go and get another three points in the next game.”
County’s victory at Pittodrie moved them eight points clear of the relegation play-off spot, however Morris feels the Staggies must build on the result in their pursuit of Premiership survival.
He added: “It’s a tough place to go, which puts a more positive spin on getting the win.
“It’s away at Pittodrie, they’ve got a really strong team, but at the end of the day it is just one game and it’s just three points that we get out of it.
“We’ve got to use that as a positive, but I don’t think it’s anything crazy. We got three points, we put in a good performance, Billy Mckay got another two goals and big Ross Laidlaw made two outstanding saves.
“There are a lot of positives, but we need to make sure we’re still grounded and we go again next Wednesday against Motherwell.”