Paul McShane pulled out of the closing stages of training yesterday with a stiff neck, probably caused by continually looking upwards.

McShane's career is certainly on an upward curve, for both club and country.

The teenager has been outstanding at the heart of Albion's Championship defence since his loan move from Manchester United at the start of the season.

McShane, 19, will maintain his ever-present record for the Seagulls against Cardiff at Withdean tomorrow after back-to-back starts for the Republic of Ireland under-21s in company with fellow Albion loanee Wayne Henderson.

The pair featured in a 1-1 draw in Cyprus a week ago and Tuesday's 1-0 defeat by Switzerland at Tolka Park, Dublin, when Henderson had the privilege of being made captain and McShane the support of his family.

McShane's only previous game for Don Givens' side was last season, a groin injury having delayed his appearances in the current campaign.

"It's good to play international football," he said. "Teams are more tactical. Even teams like Cyprus are good.

"They went well. Switzerland was probably the best game I've played. I got to play in front of a lot of my family in that one.

"My cousins are from Dublin and my mum, dad and brother came to watch.

"I would play a game every day if I could. The more games you play the more you learn and that is what I want to do, keep learning and hopefully become one of the best."

The Irish youngsters failed to qualify for their European Championships and there was more disappointment for McShane on Wednesday night, when a 0-0 draw against Switzerland at Lansdowne Road ended the seniors' hopes of qualifying for the World Cup in Germany next summer.

"When your own country is not in the competition it's a bit frustrating," he said. "You don't really support anyone.

"The place was buzzing when Ireland were in the last World Cup with green flags everywhere."

Green and yellow shirts were rampant at Withdean in Albion's last outing before the international break.

The Seagulls conceded three goals at home for the first time since Wigan scored four in March on their way to the Premiership.

"I can't say Norwich were that great," McShane reflected. "Maybe there was a lack of concentration between the back four for the first goal.

"We tried to come up for offside but Darren Huckerby made a run from deep and he got in too easily. We should have stopped him.

"The second goal was a bit of a mix-up in the leftback area, it got crossed in and my man (Paul McVeigh) came through.

"I actually thought I had got a clearance on it. I couldn't believe it ended up in the back of the net.

"The third goal was understandable because it was 2-1 and we were trying to get back into the game.

"It's out of the system, it has got to be. You have got to just keep looking forward and move on. You cannot dwell on bad games."

McShane, Henderson and their defensive colleagues have a chance to rediscover a mean streak against shot-shy Cardiff.

The mid-table Welshmen's on and off target total of 90 is, according to official Coca-Cola League statistics, the joint-lowest with Millwall.

"Hopefully we can get a win, because we need a few wins under our belt," McShane admitted.

"It's no good getting draws all the time. We've had good draws but we are still down the bottom. We need to get three points."