FORMER West Ham United midfielder Jack Collison won’t give up on his dream of playing for Wales at the 2016 European Championships, despite losing an entire year of his career, writes Michael Pearlman.

The 26-year old left Upton Park last summer after seven years with the Hammers, making over 100 appearances for the club.

Keen to stay in the Premier League, Collison initially rebuffed interest from Championship clubs in a bid to work fully on recovering from a spate of injury troubles in recent seasons.

However, that absence from the game, though Collison’s choice, has ended up being more of a sabbatical, with the adopted Welshman – who qualifies through Gwent grandparents – opting to take a full gap year.

And rather than travelling to Tibet to find himself or getting a job outside of the beautiful game, Collison has been building for the future by undertaking the same journalism course that saw Glamorgan cricketer Mark Wallace and Newport County’s Mike Flynn put through their paces.

But that’s for the future and right now Collison is focused only on returning to football this summer and trying to force his way back into Chris Coleman’s plans.

“I think I can get back in, I’d love to play for Wales again, that’s my aim, it’s about getting my head down and trying to force my way back in,” he said.

“The first thing is obviously finding a club and staying fit, but if I can do that, I honestly think the football will take care of itself. I don’t have doubts that I can get back to that level again.

“Wherever I go it is about enjoying my football, I have to make the most of it. I will have a sit down in the summer with my agent and we’ll see what happens. I already had the chance to sign for a couple of clubs in January, but it is too much of a risk. I have to do the right thing for my career and play the long game.”

Collison believes Wales are finally delivering on the promise that has been talked about for so long.

“The boys have come of age as a group, the likes of Chris Gunter has over 50-odd caps, we have the quality of Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen and of course Gareth Bale, who is an absolute superstar,” he explained.

“What he’s done so far this campaign has been magnificent and it’s great to see the whole country getting behind him and the team.

“You can see what it means to him to play for Wales and he plays with more freedom. He thrives in that role with Wales.”