Portsmouth midfielder's international joy ahead of return for Championship relegation battle against Hull and Derby
Pompey midfielder Isaac Hayden has enjoyed international success with Jamaica.
On Wednesday, the 30-year-old played a key role for the Reggae Boyz, who achieved qualification for the Gold Cup over Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
The Blues loanee started both legs in the heart of midfield as Steve McClaren’s men reached the biennial tournament, which is set to take place later this year.
Hayden played the full contest in Saturday's 1-1 draw, which also represented the midfielder’s first 90-minute display since November.
The weekend’s impressive performance was then followed up by another solid showing in the second-leg, where he played 87 minutes before being withdrawn late on in the 3-0 victory.
Jamaica earned qualification to the tournament, which takes place in the United States and Canada and gets underway in June, with a 4-1 aggregate win against Saint Vincent.
Hayden was back in McClaren's set-up for the Gold Cup fixtures - having missed out on a call-up during the last international break in February. A lack of game-time saw the Newcastle man overlooked for friendlies against Trinidad and Tobago.
A return to the international fold after Newcastle frustrations
After being called up into this month’s camp, the former QPR loanee expressed his delight and thanked Jamaica for reigniting his form, which will no doubt be great news for Pompey ahead of a vitally important run-in.
Following the Gold Cup triumph, Hayden took to Instagram to speak of his pleasure at returning to the international fold.
In a post, he said: ‘Successful camp with @jff_football, qualifying for the gold cup. A good performance in front of our home crowd last night. Thank you to all those that came out to support at Sabina Park. Onto the next camp in June….’
Pompey will be hoping the central midfielder can continue the form seen with the Reggae Boyz for a the Championship relegation battle which restarts this weekend.
All eyes will now return to this Saturday’s contest against Blackburn kick starting the Blues’ eight-game run-in, which will determine their fate.
The former Arsenal talent completed the switch to Fratton Park in January on a loan deal for the remainder of the season, after a frustrating start to the campaign saw him fail to appear in any of Eddie Howe’s Newcastle squads.
The 30-year-old has totalled 11 appearances for John Mousinho’s side, of which eight have been from the starting XI.