EUNAN O’Kane believes promotion with Cherries would significantly improve his chances of winning further international recognition.

O’Kane, who was capped by Republic of Ireland under-21s just weeks before he joined Cherries in July, admits the prospect of breaking into the full squad is currently “some way off”.

But the midfielder, who has grown in stature since his £175,000 move from Torquay, says plying his trade regularly in the Championship would certainly be an advantage.

Born near Derry and capped at every level between under-16 and under-21 by Northern Ireland, O’Kane switched allegiance to the Republic for footballing reasons in October 2011.

He told the Daily Echo: “The feedback I received from the under-21 coach was good and the next step is to get a full international call-up. That is where I want to get to and, hopefully, some day in the future it will happen.

“I don’t think there are going to be too many opportunities to be knocking on the door playing in League One though. If we could get promotion and step into the Championship then you never know what could happen.

“There are a few young players breaking through at the moment and they are all playing for clubs in the Championship. If you get there and play well, you are in the right window in terms of being seen and throwing your hat in the ring for selection. That has got to be the aim.”

O’Kane, who was named in last season’s League Two team of the year, has turned in a series of impressive displays since forcing his way into the Cherries starting line-up in December.

The 22-year-old added: “When I came here, I was optimistic about playing and wanted to do well. Coming to a new club and stepping up a level, you worry about the challenges you are going to face in terms of better opposition and being a better player to deal with that.

“Over the past few months and since I have been playing regularly, I have learned that I am good enough for this level. I want to play as high as possible and the next step would be to challenge myself in the Championship. Hopefully, that will be with us going up automatically.”

Discussing the prospect of one day forming a central midfield partnership with Harry Arter for the Republic, O’Kane said: “Harry is a tremendous player. If we could get into the Championship and play well on a regular basis, there is no reason why it couldn’t happen. Saying that, there are a lot of good players in Ireland and there is a lot of competition.

“If we could step up to the next level, we would at least put ourselves in the right circles to possibly getting selected. Once you are in a squad, you never know what could happen. If the two of us were there, stranger things have happened than two people from the same club being selected together.”