Mark McGuinness has lifted the lid on life as a Championship

Mark McGuinness has lifted the lid on life as a Championship footballer, believing he is improving with each passing game in a Cardiff City shirt.

He found himself behind Sean Morrison, Aden Flint and Curtis Nelson at the start of the campaign, but soon became a mainstay in his maiden Championship campaign and gained plaudits for the manner in which he took to the second tier of English football.

Speaking while on Ireland under-21s duties, McGuinness is happy with how his first year in the Welsh capital has gone.

“Every game I feel like I improve,” he told PunditArena. “I played a lot of games in the Championship at a very good level. Even here it is a different sort of football and competition and players. Every game I feel like I am developing.

“It’s a great level. It’s relentless and I’ve got 35 games in the end, which was great for me. Great experience. And then I just tried to carry that forward and into these games. Every player here is playing at a good level playing men’s football, which is very important. We all know what it’s like and everyone is developing and playing at a good level of football.

“Once you get into the flow of things it’s alright. You adapt to the level, and you play against good players and teams. It’s tough, but it is what you want to be doing. There’s no complaint there."

There have been some who think McGuinness, 20, is not too far away from a senior Ireland call. But, typically mature in his response, he played down any notion of getting carried away or getting above his station.

“If I keep playing in the Championship and hopefully keep developing and performing, then who knows," he added. “But at the moment the focus is on these two games [against Montenegro and Italy]. They are massive for us and I would love to finish up with the U21s on a high.”