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Gillingham midfielder Ben Reeves targets Northern Ireland recall

Ben Reeves is aiming to force his way back on to the international scene after joining Gillingham.

It’s six years since Reeves won the second of his two Northern Ireland caps, when he started a 1-0 friendly defeat by Scotland in March 2015.

Ben Reeves wants to play for Northern Ireland again Picture: Keith Gillard
Ben Reeves wants to play for Northern Ireland again Picture: Keith Gillard

The midfielder, 29, hasn’t given up on a recall and wants to show manager Ian Baraclough what he’s all about following a frustrating season at Plymouth Argyle.

Asked about his international ambitions, Reeves said: “I would love to play for them again, to be honest.

“That was my aim last season when I started off at Argyle, to get back in the fold.

“I just didn’t play enough football unfortunately to be noticed.

“To get 10-plus goals a season you need to be playing more regularly and hopefully that’s what I can do this season, and if that gives me a chance to get back into the international fold, that would be brilliant.

“It’s a lot different to club football. There’s a lot of players you don’t know but the standard is really good.

“They could be players you’ve never heard of but you understand they play in the top league in Russia or Greece and the level is really high.

“You just come across players you don’t really see in typical English leagues.

“Players, technically, might be on another level where they’re playing.

“Some teams play different sorts of football as well, so you have to get used to that straight away when you play in a game.

“Unfortunately I haven’t played that many games internationally, I would like to play more and then I’d have a better view of it as well.”

Reeves made his debut as a second-half substitute when Northern Ireland shocked Greece in a Euro 2016 qualifier.

They triumphed 2-0 in Athens, in October 2014, and went on to win the group.

Reeves said: “That was a great atmosphere, full stadium, the fans were brilliant and it was just one of those moments that you really enjoy as a player, to go to a stadium like that in Athens and play against a top team and come away with a result.

“You just don’t get those moments that often in football.

“For that to be my international debut was brilliant.

“I want to build on that and try and get more of those memories.

“You can’t beat those nights when you’re going to play some of the best teams in the world and there’s so many people watching it.”

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