After four seasons of regular European football, Kenneth Dougall must have been wondering what else he had to do to earn a Socceroos call-up.
The now 25-year-old midfielder has impressed in the Netherlands since joining Telstar in 2014, earning a move to Sparta Rotterdam just a year later and sealing promotion to the Eredivisie.
Two further seasons of top-flight football followed with Dougall scoring once in both campaigns across regular appearances.
Yet despite standing tall in Europe, Dougall remained largely anonymous in Australia and only featured a handful of times for the U23's side in 2015.
Now with League One side Barnsley, the Socceroos have finally come calling with Graham Arnold including him in his first squad for a training camp in Turkey.
While competition is fierce in Australia's midfield and Dougall will struggle to force his way into it, he's simply grateful to get some long-deserved recognition.
"It's a nice feeling, and obviously to be selected in the Socceroos is one of the best feelings," Dougall said.
"It gives me hope going forward that maybe I will be in the plans going forward.
"For players that haven't been called up or are on the fringes, it gives everyone hope. New faces are always good, it's good for competition and improves everyone.
"For me it's exciting times ahead and it's only the first step and hopefully I can continue my development and get in more squads."
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Dougall has started all six of Barnsley's league games to date with his new club yet to lose in League One.
A big part of that run appears to be the Aussie, who has quickly won over fans and is hoping to transfer his club form to the national team.
"At Barnsley we've had a tremendous start," he said.
"The international break has maybe come at the wrong time for us. Club football and international football is always separate, but it's always nice when you're doing well for your club.
"Football wise I'm feeling good, so really looking forward to this week of training."
