Millwall midfielder George Saville has spoken about how he came to become selected for the Northern Ireland national team.

The 24-year-old is one of two other players in the Lions squad, with Conor McLaughlin and Shane Ferguson, who will feature in Martin O’Neill’s squad for their World Cup qualifying fixtures against Germany and Norway in October.

Saville was the hero on Tuesday night as he scored twice to bring Neil Harris’ men back from a goal down to win 2-1 against Reading.

Now he has told News Shopper about his call-up.

He said: “It’s been a fantastic week for me and my family. I got the news about Northern Ireland, which was a proud moment, and then today it was great to get three points against Reading

“My nan was Northern Irish and she was from Enniskillen. We haven’t looked too much into it to be honest, but we feel that it’s the right time now and I have been playing regular football for Millwall and the manager [Martin O’Neill] has found about that and he think it’s the right time for me to be put into the squad.

“One of the guys from the (Northern Irish) FA just rang me to just speak about eligibility and then I spoke with the manager last week, and he seemed keen for me to go.

“Without Millwall then the opportunity for international football doesn’t come along. The manager [Neil Harris], Livers [David Livermore] and the backroom staff have all put their faith into me to perform, and hopefully I am performing week in and week out for them guys and the football club.”

Saville, McLaughlin and Ferguson will not be the only players away on international duty, as Aiden O’Brien goes away for the Republic of Ireland as well.

Since his move from Wolverhampton Wanderers to the Den, the former Chelsea academy player has now found the net four times in ten appearances, all of them in the Sky Bet Championship.

And he continues to set himself targets to improve.

Saville added: “I always set myself before seasons and I think a lot of players do. With targets, you can push yourself wherever you can and at Wolves I didn’t get as regular football as I wanted, but here I’ve got the opportunity here to play a lot of football, play as many games, and it’s in my hands now what I do with it this season.

“I just need to keep working hard and that comes from the training field. Hopefully I can get more goals, but more importantly get Millwall success and up that table.”