Portsmouth winger keen to be mainstay on international stage

The Pompey winger came of the bench to play the entire second half of Eire's goalless friendly against Northern Ireland in Dublin.

He replaced the injured Callum O'Dowda at half-time and produced a lively performance under the watchful eye of manager Martin O'Neill.

The 22-year-old's outing at the Aviva Stadium comes after an impressive start to his Blues career, following his arrival from Derry City in the summer.

Curtis has six goals and seven assists to his name already this season for the League One leaders.

That record in front of goal prompted O'Neill to add him to his latest squad, with Ireland failing to score in their past three matches

Now Curtis wants to the opportunity to ease the pressure currently on the Republic's misfiring forward line when they travel to Denmark for their final UEFA Nations League match.

He hopes to start that game in Aarhus '“ and create a platform for himself to become a mainstay in the Ireland side.

Curtis told the Irish Mirror: '˜That's my aim (to become a regular in the side), that's what I want to do and become.  

'˜I want to become a senior international, hopefully I've shown a bit of initiative when coming off the bench and, hopefully, on Monday night, I could even get a start. We'll see.

'˜I'm 22 years of age, I've got a taste for it now and hopefully on Monday I'll get more time - and then fight for my place next year.'

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