Jon Walters has credited Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane for showing faith in him at a time when he wasn't getting game-time at Stoke City.
The hero of Ireland's second leg Euro 2016 playoff win over Bosnia was speaking to Ger and Joe on Off The Ball tonight.
"It's been a good couple of years. The manager and Roy, they've shown a lot of faith in me when you go to this time last year, I didn't start the season at Stoke. I wasn't starting the games and yet I came away on internationals and I played every game," he said.
"I wasn't playing in the club and it's always difficult if you're not playing, fitness isn't there. I was thankful for that because I wasn't playing the games for Stoke."
Walters, who also spoke about the importance of Ireland's pressing and team spirit, also said he never wavered in his belief that we could qualify even during some of the low points in middle of the campaign.
"We all still believed. We knew Scotland had to go to Georgia which we found out ourselves is not an easy place to go and a couple of Scottish players wrote us off after that game and said 'there's three teams in qualification [and] Ireland may think they've got a chance but they haven't and that spurred a few players on. But the belief was always there.'"
What a legend this man truly is. Pack your bags, we are headed to France! #COYBIG #IREvBOS https://t.co/s1zPfPVyQ6 pic.twitter.com/MlcgPYaCHc
— Newstalk Sport (@NewstalkSport) November 16, 2015
Walters was part of the Ireland squad which endured a nightmare at Euro 2012 on the pitch and he looked back on the mistakes that were made during Giovanni Trapattoni's reign in the build-up to the tournament.
"I think going into the last one, well I think it was a type of Italian way to do it. That's how the Italy team would do and those players may be used to it from a very young age," he said.
"We were locked away in a hotel, we were away for a long time before the camp, during the camp and by the end of it, some lads that weren't involved, weren't getting any game-time, they were just thinking at the end of it 'I can't wait for this to end, I want to get home'".
Walters also spoke about his Irish roots on his mother's side and how he maintained those strong ties after she passed away when he was aged 11.
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