The Jambos striker seemed to pull the plug on playing for his country two years ago to focus on his young family
Liam Boyce insists he is ready to end his sabbatical from Northern Ireland by hitting the heights at Hearts.
And he admits it’s now down to him to prove he deserves to pull on the green jersey again. He said: “Hopefully if I keep playing well I can make the gaffer pick me. I spoke to him, even when I was injured. When he first came back in as manager he asked if I’d think about coming back. It’s been about two years since I went away from it. I had stuff going on with my family – I’d just had a baby son – which meant I couldn’t do it. But I’d been thinking about going back.
“I played a few games in a row for Hearts and could have maybe joined my country. Then my calf and hamstring were tight. I think my legs just aren’t used to it after the year off. You can do all the running you want and feel as fit as you can but when you go into games it’s a completely different type of fitness.”
He said: “All I can say is O’Neill asked me to come back and I said I’d think about it and see how it goes. I never said I’d never go back. Even when Ian was the manager I told him about my family and how I couldn’t leave my fiancee on her own with two kids. He said to pick up the phone if I wanted to come back and we’d talk about it. Ian helped me more than anyone but people back home thought I was staying away because of him. Playing international football is the best thing you can do.
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