Carson eyes summer trip after making his NI debut

Former Sunderland keeper Trevor Carson is keen to be on the plane for Northern Ireland’s end-of-season tour of Central America, even though his fiancee’s due date is just weeks later.

The 30-year-old Motherwell stopper finally won his maiden senior cap in a 2-1 victory over South Korea on Saturday after years spent being an unused understudy.

Carson is now desperate to ensure he remains at the forefront of manager Michael O’Neill’s mind when he takes a squad to Panama and Costa Rica for friendlies in late May and early June.

However, the timing is not ideal for Carson given his fiancee Rachel is due to give birth shortly after, with the keeper joking she probably hoped he failed his audition at Windsor Park against the Koreans.

“I’d love to go on the summer tour and, if selected, I will be there,” Carson said.

“The missus isn’t too happy because she’s due to give birth about four weeks after that so she’s was probably hoping I’d have a beast on Saturday, so I wouldn’t be picked.”

In finally receiving international recognition, Carson has also ensured he will be immortalised in mural form in his home village of Killyleagh.

When it was painted in 2006, space was left for the next player from the village to receive a cap – to join David Healy, Terry Cochrane and Hugh Henry Davey on the wall at the top of Carson’s mother’s estate.

“I’ve got my first cap now and a space had been left for the next international, so it will be great to be on that now and it will be great to see it every time I go past it,” Carson added.

“But getting the cap and the win was what it was about; the rest is just something I can look back on and be proud but that stuff is all just an added bonus.”

Northern Ireland beat Koreathankstoalategoalfrom sub Paul Smyth (pictured), less than 48 hours after playing for the Under-21s.

Kwon Chang-hoon had given the visitiors the lead, but O’Neill’s side levelled when an ingenious free-kick routine led to Kim Min-jae scoring an own goal. O’Neill said of Smyth: “It was great for him, he’s a player with a big future.”