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Town striker Shaw handed England call-up
JON Shaw has hailed Town boss Chris Wilder's contribution to his return to the England C squad for the Four Nations tournament in north Wales later this month.
The 24-year-old striker has been named in national manager Paul Fairclough's squad for games against Gibraltar, Scotland and Wales - and for a short tour to the Caribbean where they will play the full national sides of Grenada and Barbados.
Shaw has won one cap - in a 3-1 win over Italy at Cambridge United's Abbey Stadium in February 2006 - but felt his England days were behind him.
In fact he was on the verge of quitting Blue Square Premier football before Wilder snapped him up from Burton Albion at the end of last summer's transfer window.
And he went on to score 20 league goals - 26 in all competitions - to help the Shaymen stave of the threat of relegation.
"It has been more than two years since I last played for England and thought my chance to play again had gone," said Shaw.
"This time last year I was not even thinking about playing too much football.
"I was not playing regularly at Burton - I was in and out of the side - and nearing the end of my contract.
"And when you are fighting for a contract you know you might be struggling to get anywhere else.
"I was almost resigned to the fact that my football career at this level was over.
"But Chris Wilder came in for me and he has resurrected my career.
"I have gone out and got the goals and now got the recognition.
"I would not have done that if I had not moved away from Burton.
"I don't think that anyone could have got as much out of me as Chris Wilder, with his dedication to the players on the training ground.
"And I believe players like Jake Wright and Danny Forrest can only do well under a manager like him."
Shaw was certainly one of the stars of a disappointing campaign for the Shaymen and he reached the 20-goal mark on the final day of the season against Stevenage.
"It seems like it has been a bad year, but I have really enjoyed myself," he said.
"As a striker you want as many goals as you can get but given the chances we have created if I had not got to 20 in the league it would have been a travesty.
"It is an achievement to get to 20 and now I have done it once, I want to do it again."
England C's games are:
Tuesday May 20 (7.0): v Gibraltar – Llanelian Road, Colwyn Bay.
Thursday May 22 (7.0): v Scotland - Llanelian Road, Colwyn Bay.
Saturday May 24 (2.0): v Wales – Belle Vue Park, Rhyl.
Saturday May 31 (4.0): v Grenada - The National Stadium, St Georges.
Monday June 2 (7.0): v Barbados - The National Stadium, Bridgetown.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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