MIDDLESBROUGH-bound Mark Wilson is aiming to make up for lost time and force his way to the forefront of Sven-Goran Eriksson's England plans.

Wilson, poised to complete a joint a £4m switch to Teesside along with Manchester United colleague Jonathan Greening, sees the move as a long-overdue opportunity to catch the eye of the England coach.

Playing under new Boro manager Steve McClaren, a key member of Eriksson's support team, certainly won't do the 22-year-old duo any harm in their pursuit of full international honours.

Like fellow Under-21 midfielder Greening, Wilson has been confined to the first-team fringes at Old Trafford, and he admitted: "I hope playing regularly in the Premiership will steer me in the right direction as far as England is concerned.

"Once you've played for the Under-21s, you get a taste for international football and it's obvious a player isn't going to have a prayer of playing for their country if they're not getting first-team football. I'm close to completing a move to Middlesbrough and I'm very excited about it.

" Ultimately, I realised I had very little choice than to leave Old Trafford if I wanted to play more regularly. It was a tough decision because I have supported the club all my life, but sometimes you have to face facts and start afresh.

"It's hard to accept that I haven't been able to fulfil my ambitions at the club I love, but I'm looking forward to a new challenge.

"I know there will be extra pressure on me because people have such high expectations of former United players these days.

"But that's fine with me because I experienced that level of expectation when I went on loan to Wrexham three years ago.

"That's the whole point of the move, to put myself in the firing line rather than just making up the numbers on the bench or in the reserves.''

Scunthorpe-born Wilson added: "It's been so frustrating watching the likes of Alan Smith at Leeds and Kieron Dyer at Newcastle making their mark on the England set-up in the past couple of seasons, because I'm roughly the same age but my career has stood still while they have flourished.

"I'm happy they've done well, but I also can't help feeling envious.

"I've never lost confidence in my ability, but there comes a time when you've got to have the right stage to prove it.

"My game has actually improved a hell of a lot over the past few seasons, but the problem is nobody has really had the opportunity to see me prove it.''

Coventry are closing in on a £1m deal for Boro wing-back Keith O'Neill.

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