James McClean has spoken of his undiluted desire to pull on the Republic of Ireland jersey at every opportunity ahead of Thursday night's New Jersey friendly against Mexico.
The West Brom winger is poised to wear the armband Stateside for what will be his 50th international cap, lending experience to a new-look panel.
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After a punishing Premier League campaign, and with the huge World Cup qualifier against Austria on the horizon, most of Martin O'Neill's established players will have the feet up this week, but McClean revealed he was desperate to travel, and is hoping to make an impact.
"What more motivation do you need than when you're playing for your country?" he told RTÉ Sport.
"I'm fit and ready, and when I'm fit and ready I'm available for selection. I spoke to Martin; I decided that I wanted to come here and thankfully he wanted to me to come as well so it was all good."
The Derry man could find himself playing in a left wing-back role, with O'Neill hinting he's willing to experiment with his formation as well as his personnel in America.
McClean sees that as just another opportunity to prove his worth, and was critical of players who shirk the call.
"I haven't played there that often but if it adds more strings to my bow and gives me that new experience of playing somewhere else, I'm all for it," said the 28-year-old.
"I just want to play.
"It gets on my nerves when players come in and they're not fit for games, but they are for the club games at the weekend. That gets to me.
"To see the excitement here of lads who want to wear that jersey, it's brilliant. It rubs off on you."
Ireland take on Uruguay - minus superstar striker Luis Suarez due to a leg muscle injury - at the Aviva Stadium next Sunday before Austria come to down a week later.
