Aston Villa's Ciaran Clark insists he has never contemplated going out on loan to boost his hopes of playing for Ireland at the Euro 2012 championships.

Clark, who spent most of the first half of the season on the substitutes bench, faces a tough task to gatecrash Giovanni Trapattoni’s squad for Poland and Ukraine.

But the versatile 22-year-old insists he was always prepared to battle for his claret and blue place rather than seek a temporary move to a lower league club.

Clark’s patience has been rewarded with a five game run in the first XI starting with his recall as a holding midfielder for the brave defeat to Arsenal.

“I didn’t think about going out on loan,” said Clark.

“There was nothing ever spoken about it and as far as I was concerned it was determined to take my chance when it came.