Midfielder held concerns over his stuttering career.Check in to Arsenal vs Stoke City
New Stoke City loanee Stephen Ireland has admitted that he feared for his career before leaving Aston Villa during the summer transfer window, Sky Sports reports.
The former Republic of Ireland international joined Villa back in 2010 for £8m as part of the deal that saw James Milner head to Manchester City, but he quickly found his road into the first team in Birmingham a bumpy one.
The 26-year-old confessed that he became so isolated at the club he sometimes failed to keep up to date with his teammate’s results of a weekend, or even where the club sat in the table.
Ireland secured his short term move to the Britannia on transfer deadline day, and made no secret of his desire to turn the loan into a permanent move.
“I was panicking. I started to fear the worst,” Ireland told the Daily Express.
“Then I got the call to say get to Stoke in the next 40 minutes. A massive excitement came over me. I got in the car and drove as fast as I could.
“I could have lost my mind. I felt so distant from Aston Villa that I didn’t know their results, didn’t know where they were in the table.”
Ireland failed to force his way into the Villa first team under three separate managers; Gerard Houllier, Alex McLeish and Paul Lambert and in his unproductive time at Villa Park he managed just one goal in 57 appearances.