The 25-year-old finds himself struggling to gain the recognition of manager Brian Kerr due to the strength in depth of Ireland’s midfield which boasts Roy Keane, Kilbane, Matt Holland and Graham Kavanagh.

Although Keane is suspended for Saturday’s World Cup qualifying clash against Israel at Lansdowne Road, it is Holland and Kavanagh vying for the starting role alongside Kilbane, with Sheffield United’s Quinn merely on the fringes.

Undeterred, he marches on regardless fervently hoping one day he will get the nod as he said: “I’m hoping I’ll figure in Brian’s plans.

“There’s an extra incentive given the situation with Roy, but we will have to see what happens.

“All I can do is go out in every training session and give it 100%. Brian knows what I can do anyway, although it’s still difficult because there are some great players here.

“I’m happy to be in and around them. At least being in the squad has helped my game. I know when I return to my club I feel a much more confident player.”

Quinn is arguably fresher than most as his season ended almost four weeks ago, however, he feels the rest of the squad is ready for the challenge of taking six points from their Group Four games with the Israelis and then the Faroe Islands on Wednesday.

“Despite these games coming at the end of the season, there’s no problem,” assured Quinn, who missed out on the 1-1 draw in Tel Aviv two months ago through injury.

“I’m feeling great after three weeks off, but you can see in training everybody in the squad is looking forward to these games.

“We’re hopeful we can get the three points on Saturday. Although I wasn’t there in Tel Aviv, I watched the game and I thought we played well other than being unlucky in the last minute when they scored their equaliser.”

Quinn’s chances of staking a claim for a competitive start might have been enhanced if United had gained the promotion to the Barclays Premiership many were expecting of them.

Instead, boss Neil Warnock’s side missed out on the Coca-Cola Championship play-offs for the second successive season, leaving Quinn to look ahead to a Sheffield derby with former club Wednesday next season following his move across the city last summer.

He does have two targets in mind though, as he added: “I’m delighted they were promoted, and I’m looking forward to playing against them next season - when I’ll hopefully score the winner.

“But it was a disappointing end to last season. I thought we were going to get into the play offs at one stage, but we messed it up at the end by drawing too many games.

“Hopefully next season, after signing a few players, we can do better and go straight up.”

Kerr has revealed they are continuing to monitor the situation regarding Steve Finnan, who yesterday returned to Liverpool for treatment on the thigh injury sustained in last week’s Champions League final victory over AC Milan.

Finnan “remains extremely doubtful” according to Kerr, although no final decision will be made on his availability until at least tomorrow.

Norwich defender Gary Doherty, meanwhile, today underwent an MRI scan on the knee he tweaked during training yesterday.

Kerr added: “It showed no significant injury or damage to his knee ligaments. We are hopeful he will be fit to be considered for selection for Saturday.”