Paul Paton’s call-up to the Northern Ireland squad has placed the Dundee United man at the centre of a bomb scare in Cyprus.
The Tannadice midfielder will be on the plane to Nicosia this week with his new international colleagues for their friendly against the Cypriots on Wednesday night.
The game does appear likely to go ahead but it was thrown into doubt when a bomb destroyed referee Leontios Trattos’s car last Friday.
Police say an explosive device was placed on top of the official’s vehicle and it exploded in a car park outside his flat in the outskirts of Nicosia. No one was injured.
All domestic fixtures in Cyprus were cancelled at the weekend and the Irish Football Association have been closely monitoring the security situation on the sunshine island.
IFA chief executive Patrick Nelson phoned Cypriot FA president Marios Leskaritis to seek reassurance ahead of the team travelling.
He confirmed: “I have been in touch with the president of the Cyprus FA and we will continue to monitor developments.”
Paton got the call from Northern Irish manager Michael O’Neill on Saturday after he was watched by O’Neill’s assistant and fellow former United player Billy McKinlay in the Tangerines’ 3-1 win over Hibs at Easter Road on Friday night.
The former Partick Thistle midfielder, who qualifies because his father was born in the province, played the pass that set up the opening goal for Nadir Ciftci and McKinlay obviously liked what he saw of him.
Paton, commenting on social media site Twitter, said: “Delighted to be called into the Northern Ireland squad. Big thankyou to the club, teammates and fans for helping get me there.”