Town defender Tommy Smith has no regrets about recently turning his back on New Zealand and putting Town first but says he has no plans to retire from international football.
Smith, who represented the Kiwis at the World Cup in South Africa four years ago and at the London Olympics in 2012, was angry that he was forced out of the Championship clash at Blackpool back in November.
That is still the only league fixture Smith has missed this season, New Zealand having strictly enforced a deadline for him to join up with the squad ahead of their play-off double header against Mexico, defeat in which cost them a place at this year’s finals in Brazil.
Smith, who was born in Macclesfield but qualifies to play for the All Whites as he was brought up in New Zealand, was reported to have threatened to retire from international football before eventually relenting and playing in both games against the Mexicans.
More recently, the 23-year-old pulled out of the squad for a friendly in Japan, but is quick to dispel suggestions that he is set to turn his back on the international scene.
Anxious to put the record straight, Smith said: "International fixtures are not meant to conflict with your club games and it really disappointed me that they wouldn’t allow me to play in the Blackpool game.
"I haven’t really got anything much to say other than that. Things have happened behind closed doors — I’ve had conversations and I don’t really want to make them public at this stage.
"There’s a new chief executive in charge of New Zealand Football now and the head coach has changed as well. They’ve come out with an open book now and they want to put in place a policy that will make more sense to the clubs I think, so hopefully going forward we won’t have any of those sorts of situations.
"It seems as if the new chief exec understands the positions of the players and the clubs. That’s what international windows are for — they’re not supposed to affect your club fixtures.
"It really annoyed me about the Blackpool game because I don’t want to miss any games. Hopefully, we’ve reached a solution now and I’m happy about that.”
Smith, who has been capped 27 times, scoring twice, also explained his decision to withdraw from the game in Japan earlier this month, adding: "It was only a friendly and with the amount of games we have in March, and the importance of those games, I thought it was vital to stay behind and to make sure I was right physically and mentally for them.
"It was a bit of a no-brainer for me really. As much as I love playing for New Zealand and enjoy putting on the shirt, obviously my bread and butter is Ipswich Town and I want to do as well as I can for them and help them push for the promotion places.
"There’s an interim manager at the moment — Neil Emblen, who used to play under Mick McCarthy at Millwall — and I know him quite well. I had a chat with him and he understood my situation because he was a player here and he knows the rigours of the league. He was quite understanding, which bodes well for the future.
"I’ve no thoughts about quitting New Zealand, not at this stage. I don’t think there are any fixtures, except for one in June and I don’t think I’ll attend that one either because I need a nice, long summer break, hopefully with promotion under our belts if all goes well. It hasn’t crossed my mind yet to fully knock it on the head.”
Smith has been one of the success stories of the Mick McCarthy era and his manager has a lot of time for him.
"There are about two or three of them who are just about ever-present,” McCarthy said. "He’s been one of the standout players, him and Christophe Berra have formed a really good partnership.
"I think the back four overall have played most of the games and have been good.
"Tommy has been getting in the team since last season, from my first month and he’s played most games. He’s been great, he quietly and efficiently gets on with his job. It does what it says on the tin with Tommy.”